(laughs) >> rose: (laughs) >> one night in walked paul robeson. and when we heard he was there we were all terribly exited, never met him before. knew all about him. and he stayed and talked with us and from that meeting on i made it my business to know all there was to know about him, to be i his presen, to be in his environment socially and politically and to b in his service. and in that environment i began to meet a lot of intellectuals, a lot of people. >> rose: let's go back to sidney. you we bor eight days apart. >> yes, he's eight days older. (laughter) >> rose: which rses the question, was there any competition between the two of you? >> it was fierce. >> rose: (laughs) >> and to a great degree there's still this sense of competitive as we play it out. and our path has been an interesting one. i'm very fortunate that sidney is in my life and we met that we did. we were bh 19 year old. and we both hit in the profession at a time when our capacity to emerge and to get up the ladder of success did not elude us with any ferocity. we were able

what did you do for your friend paul robeson? he got maltreated in every imaginable way. he is your mentor. >> it was the way in which he treated his mistreatment. the way he handled all of those things thethrew at him. i saw this man as uniquely courageous. there were no romantic trappings. i looked at him and i listened to him. each day that i heard my own horror stories, he is one of the people i would go to to discuss, how does one handle an environment that does the kinds of things that were being done to me in so many others. his guidance, i found a way in which to manipulate my own experience through his eyes and his courage. how he went out pure. he went our hard, but noble and with dignity. he went out heroic. all of these things attested to the fact that this man possessed guts. human kindness. human power. to follow his path and to listen to his council was the reward of my journey, not the anguish of it. what angers me is that we were not more successful at saving him from so much cruelty. through that sacrifice and experience, as much as dejesus has inspired

paul robeson came to see me. mulligan and shelby lynn. that is next time.e will see you then. >> every community has a martin luther king boulevard. it's the cornerstone we all know. it's not just a street or boulevard, but a place where walmart stands together with your community to make every day better. >> nationwide insurance supports tavis smiley. with every question and every answer, nationwide insurance is proud to join tavis in working to improve financial literacy and remove obstacles to economic empowerment one conversation at a time. nationwide is on your side. >> and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. [captioning made possible by kcet public television] >> be more.