joyce armstrong, neola gans and deirdre smith from the public housing tenants association board of directors. we want to welcome them. p (applause) >> and last but not least, ms. jones from the -- >> [inaudible]. >> the department of aging, ms. jones from the department of aging is with us today. i'm sorry. (applause) >> wanted to make sure i got that one in. with that, i'd like to hastily call forward cheryl smith who has been a tremendous supporter of the society who will introduce our keynote speaker. cheryl. (applause) >> good afternoon, everybody. and happy black history month. i have the great pleasure of introducing today's keynote speaker. we are fortunate to have a speaker whose experience and background exemplifies african-american history. he is the general ed orial advisor to the king legacy, a professor of history, and founding director of the martin luther king, jr., research and educational institute at stanford university. during 2009, he also served as the king distinguished professor at morehouse college and the first executive director of that institution's king collection