marc morial joins us tonight from washington.d to have you back on the program. >> thank you so much for having me. tavis: let me jump to our report. on the cover, you cannot miss the word "j-o-b-s." certainly, the center of it is about jobs. you all are working with numbers that you build your case around in this report, but since this has gone to print, we have had other numbers come out that are worse than what is in your report. the new job numbers are coming out this friday, and they may be worse, certainly, for the communities that you are concerned about. what do you make about the fact that these numbers seem to be going down, a downward spiral? >> there is what we call a lagging indicator, which even after, quote, a recession, you can have another year to 18 months of continued high unemployment. make no mistake about it. there is a crisis in this nation when it comes to jobs, and is a significantly deeper crisis in this nation -- and it is a significantly deeper crisis in this nation when it comes to blacks and jobs. we

mark morial said they are going to be opening opportunity centers to retrain ex-felons. you had the naacp are going to work with criminal justice. reverend sharpton said they are going to target six states to mobilize voters for the upcoming elections. albert dotson of 100 black men are going to expand their mentoring program to reach 1 million mentors. they have 500,000 and want to have a million more. now what my job is, tom joyner's job is, we are going to use our platforms and bring them back every 90 days and say where are you with this? how many folks have you signed up? at the end of a year, if the people who came to this forum and made a public announcement of what they want to do, if they've done nothing, then they are going to be exposed as hypocrites and people who all want to talk. now they have to be held accountable by the people. my job in media is to hold them accountable. also the people at home. the people can't sit back and say let president barack obama do it. let congress do it. they have to change their communities, themselves, their houses, their n

the landrieu family, mary landrieu and mitch landrieu who's now mayor and the morials, dutch morial, the first black mayor and mark morial who's the head of the urban league today. so it's reflecting on race and families in new orleans for julian bond. i then went and taught at tulane university and i'm now a professor of history at rice university in houston. i live in austin so i divide my time between austin-houston and i have three kids, which takes up a lot of my time. and i'm able to take them now to historic sites and parks that my parents took me to when i was young. >> yes, do they -- >> usually they -- >> -- do they resist? >> a little bit but, you know, we tend to go more to like dino parks and things like this. but i'm -- i mean we were just in waco, texas and i took them on a tour of the dr. pepper factory. or if we go to, you know, houston we try to go to the history museum as well as some of the natural history ones so i'm -- it's in my blood, and i'm planning on taking them to all these places because they mean so much to me. >> yes. >> this weekend or coming up right

reverend sharpton, been jealous of the naacp, marc morial, the national urban league, and we discoveredrd. nevermind she was in a wheelchair. she was not about to let a bunch of men -- [laughter] [applause] >> in this meeting. it was only when the car literally could not get to her driveway that she reluctantly decided to stay home, but she still sent a message about what needed to be done. and i told that story, partly because it captures the quiet, dogged, dignified persistence that all of us who loved dr. height came to know so well. and attribute that we understand she learned early on. born in the capital of the old confederacy, brought north by her parents, part of that great migration, dr. height was raised in another age, in a different america. beyond the experience of many. it's hard to imagine, i think, life in the first decade of that last century. when the elderly woman that we knew was only a girl. jim crow ruled the south. the clan was on the rise. powerful political force. lynching was all too often the penalty for the offense of black skin. slaves had been freed within

it's your turn, marc morial's, took up the kings highway. it's your turn.t's your turn, michael hooks the second to go on high. it's your turn. it's your turn, to lift up the bloodstained banner. it's your turn, all of the young freedom fighters to stand tall and to go higher, because soldiers of old are leaving here one by one. goodnight, dr. hooks. i will see you in the morning. thank god for a job well done. servant of god, he is a servant of god. the best of your service, weary of life and the battle is one. be not dismayed when men won't believe you. he will understand and say, well done. or when i come to the end of my journey, weary of life, and the battle is won, carrying the staff and the cross of redemption, he will understand and say, well done. well done. thou good and faithful servant. well done. benjamin lawson hooks, well done. we will see you in the morning. in the morning. were bells will be ringing. in the morning here good night, dr. hooks. i will see you in the morning. [applause] ♪ ♪ >> let the church say amen. church say amen again. al

mark morial, danny bakewell senior. also with us today is tamika mallory, angela sailor, dr. scott, the chairman of the national black caucus, the mayor of philadelphia, the cofounder of the all stars project. [applause]. the all stars project. [applause] [applause] >> with -- where did all these black folks go? what if we show up for president obama, we do not show up for our mayors. >> i think you are right in raising the question. usually, people do not answer the telephone at home unless it rains. the reason why blacks did not come out is because no one called them out. there was not the proper organizing and mobilizing in those states. >> we can get a rhetoric on that. we are going into six of the main and critical states in the midtown elections and we are going to register voters and do voter turnout. this is a commitment. we will increase turnout in those states by 5%. people can go with us if they want. we are going into ohio, california, illinois, and we will up the ante. we will set the stage for the defeat for the president in 2012 if we do not win at the midterm

it is your turn, marc morial, to go higher.t is your turn, pat, to livft up the blood spattered banner. the soldiers of old are leaving here one by one. good night, dr. hooks. i will see you and in the morning. thank god for a job well done. he is a servant of god. weary of life and the battle is won. be not dismayed when the men a want to leave you for he will understand and say well done. when i come to the end of my journey, weary of life and the battle is won. carrying the cross of redemption, he will understand and say it will done. well of the u.n., my good and faithful servant, well done, benjamin lawson hooks. well done. we will see you in the morning. in the morning where bills will be ringing. in the morning where choirs will be singing. good night, dr. hooks. i will see you in the morning. [applause] ♪ >> let the church say amen. say that again. amen. you get what i say? [laughter] i am about halfway through. let us make sure as we come forth, make this short. help me, somebody. come take care of us. >> and then. --

the landrieu family, mary landrieu and mitch landrieu who's now mayor and the morials, dutch morial,or and mark morial who's the head of the urban league today. so it's reflecting on race and families in new orleans for julian bond. i then went and taught at tulane university and i'm now a professor of history at rice university in houston. i live in austin so i divide my time between austin-houston and i have three kids, which takes up a lot of my time. and i'm able to take them now to historic sites and parks that my parents took me to when i was young.