philip randolph came to my rescue. he said, "there's nothing wrong with the use of the word black masses. i use it myself sometimes. there's nothing wrong with the use of the word revolution. i use it in myself --" so, for the most part, we kept that in it. but near the end of the speech, the original text, i said, "if we do not see meaningful progress here today, the day may come where we may not confine our marching on washington, but we may be forced to march through the south the way sherman did nonviolently." they said, "oh, no. you can't go there." and that stayed in the speech until we got to the steps of the lincoln memorial. and both a. philip randolph and dr. king and mr. wilkins came to me. and at one point, i said to roy wilkins, i said, "mr. wilkins, this speech represents the young people in the student nonviolent coordinating committee and all of the people, indigenous people in alabama and georgia and mississippi and all across the south." and he sort of walked away, sort of backed off. then, mr. randol

was a a philip randolph legend in chicago and in this country.since you mention randolph and fdr, can youput in compare the difficult economic ?eriod with this under obama >> i was a student during the , and for some reason i felt it was necessary to .ecome a philosopher there were more crises of humanity. what can we do? were we just interested in jobs so we can become materialists, or did we value human values. i think the understanding we have to build our souls and not just the economy is going among the people, and the world needs that. tavis: this is why i love you so much. you mentioned fdr and a philip randolph and the work they did together. this week marks the 50th anniversary of the big march in detroit. you can read this online these days. speechous i have a dream , we celebrate 50 years this coming august. before king got to washington to deliver this speech, he went to detroit. it was in destroyed he worked it out. he used it as a testing ground. first in detroit. grace lee boggs was in the audience. >> i was an organizer. rex she w

philip randolph had.you know, and for him, you know, the issue of, i mean come it was interconnected, right? the issue of the exclusion of black workers from defense industry was both a racial justice issue and and economic justice issue. you couldn't separate them. and i think many of, as i said before, many of the struggles that we are facing today are connected to the economic inequality that we are seeing. are connected to the disempowerment of the american public, in many ways. i mean, again, to go all of off-topic, off the central topic, i mean with president obama's recent attempt to get gun control legislation. we had the majority of the public in support of some type of reform, and yet it doesn't pass. and that's unfortunately connected to again something that congressman ellison talked about, the influence of money and lobbyists in politics. so we have a real crisis in our democracy right now. and you know, one of the important sort of forces is labor. unfortunately that's why labor is under att

philip randolph institute of san francisco. so, the item before you would authorize the port to enter into a one-year contract with the san francisco conservation corps to provide paid work experience to at-risk youth to help maintain the port's property areas and public right of ways. the contract would be for $285,000. by way of background, since 2005 filing competitive procurement process, the port has contracted with the san francisco conservation corps which is a community-based nonprofit organization to provide such paid employment opportunities for at-risk youth. this contract is part of the port's youth employment program. as you know, the port sponsors a number of work force development efforts targeted at youth and young adults, including this proposed contract, the maritime internship program, americorps [speaker not understood] and various college opportunities. regarding the selection process -- you heard the selection process last time you were here so i'll make it brief and there's quite a bit of detail in the re

philip randolph as mr. randolph.would all prefer to him in such a way, concerned about his dignity, he is that kind of person. he was the perfect mentor. someone who could say, try this, do not do this, do that. he shaped his political of look. was af his life, rustin believer and defender in organized labor and fought for could.uch as he it is a shame we do not have a spokesperson now working so hard for working people. >> throughout his life, gay rights were so important, but it began because of the movement growing around him. >> he started to speak about his own experiences as a gay man. he was invited to conferences and organizations and he became more open about what his experiences had been. i think he was a little surprised and delighted. at that point, he was in his 70's. the gay movement, when it first started, it was largely a movement of young people. i think they saw him as a senior figure. was another critical influence. john d'emilio, if you could just summarize who this pacifist was. >> he was one of

philip randolph, the president of the a. philip randolph institute, dr.so speak. hear ye them. >> good morning. today we paid tribute to the many sacrifices made by men and women so that this country can live up to the ideals of equality and justice for all. and yet within a stone's throw of this monument and elsewhere, minority communities and people of color still face challenges to dr. king's dream. the latino community cannot be defined in simple terms for we are diverse ethnically, social economically, and politically. but we can be defined as immensely patriotic, as witnessed by our willingness to serve and protect our nation during times of conflict. underscoring our national anthem's conclusion when we say "o'er the land of the free and the home of the brave." today, comprehensive immigration reform is being fought by racism and ignorance thinly veiled by budget concerns and insecurity. congress has run out of excuses, and the latino community has run out of patience. i also want to say a few words about the recent supreme court decision shelby ve

philip randolph, who really was the godfather of this march 50 years ago, he was the godfather. that is another talking points i have here that only 7 percent of working people now are in the labor movement, a part of the labor movement. labor movement has been demonized. poor people have been demonized. that is what is going on. the thing that i always remember, and i cannot do it by memory, but i will paraphrase. philip randolph at the march on washington said look for the dixiecrats, reactionary republicans who are opposed to medicare, social security, federal funding of public education and minimum-wage. there you will find working with reactionary republicans to end the those programs. all you have to do is change one word, dixiecrat and replace it with teeth party -- tea party. it is the same thing. what are they opposed to today 50 years later? minimum wage. public -- funding for public education, so security, medicare and medicaid. so this march is a continuation. what i have been charged to do, and there are two parts. this first panel are people we attempted to intervi

philip randolph, the president of the a. philip randolph institute, dr.id tribute to the many sacrifices made by men and women so that this country can live up to the ideals of equality and justice for all. and yet within a stone's throw of this monument and elsewhere, minority communities and people of color still face challenges to dr. king's dream. the latino community cannot be defined in simple terms for we are diverse ethnically, social economically, and politically. but we can be defined as immensely patriotic, as witnessed by our willingness to serve and protect our nation during times of conflict. underscoring our national anthem's conclusion when we say "o'er the land of the free and the home of the brave." today, comprehensive immigration reform is being fought by racism and ignorance thinly veiled by budget concerns and insecurity. congress has run out of excuses, and the latino community has run out of patience. i also want to say a few words about the recent supreme court decision shelby versus holder. this past june, the supreme court shut

philip randolph with the help of two women named lilo lane and pauline maier's.ilip randolph called for african-americans to come to the nation's capital on july 1 to draw attention to discrimination in hiring practices send in the military. the march never took place because president roosevelt signed executive order 8802 which bans discrimination in the employment of workers in defense industries and government. the march on washington movement was established then to continue to fight for equality for african-americans. and it was organized largely by three women lately lain pauline maier's and a woman named apple king. they developed a slogan for the movement. nonviolence, goodwill, direct action. in other words than courage to african-americans to resist discrimination by direct action taken with goodwill in mind in a nonviolent manner. they planned mass protest over the united states in 1942 and 1943. the march on washington movement train people to participate in pickets and parades in nonviolent ways. ways. it taught them not remain quiet when they were i

philip randolph. john lewis, dorothy heights.hallowed ground. in the shadow of lincoln's statue the burning memory of the fact that he gave his life to preserve the union and end slavery, martin luther king urged his crowd not to drink from the cup of bitterness, but to reach across the racial divide. because, he said, we cannot walk alone. their destiny is tied up with our destiny. their freedom is bound to our freedom. he urged the victims of racial violence to meet white americans with outstretched hands, not a clenched fist and prove the redeeming power of unearned suffering. and then he dreamed of an america where all citizens would sit together at a table of brotherhood and little white boys and girl and little black boys and girls would hold hands across the color line. where his own children would be judged not by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. this march and that speech changed america. they opened minds, they melted hearts, and they moved millions including a 17-year-old boy watching alon

king, a philip randolph, bayard rustin, john lewis.n behalf of those whose names will never be known. we must recommit to the struggle as stewards of a nation that belongs to the rich and the poor , to the ceo and the sanitation worker, those with and those without. we have the responsibility to build on a legacy that has been left to us all. we must protect the most fundamental rights we have, the right to vote. we must ensure that workers voices will never be silenced. we must fight for good jobs and decent pay. we must become a just and fair society of our ideals. above all, above all, we must uphold the principle that everyone who contributes to the prosperity of this nation should share in the prosperity of this nation. thank you. [applause] >> please welcome the u.s. representative from maryland, the honorable donna edwards. [applause] >> on behalf of the members of congress, i represent maryland's fourth congressional district. americanirst african- woman to represent maryland in the house of representatives and behalf of my sis

i am the first female president of the abe philip randolph institute. im i am leaning on the shoulders of norman who helps lead this organization. all night long i wondered what to say in two minutes. the answer came very quickly. 41,ought of randolph in when he was going against the governments to look for equal treatment in jobs that have to do with munitions and the military. convinced herelt husband, franklin, that it is always us women who have good sense. freedoms, justice, and , if wesame topic as then did the same thing now could we pull up to million low-wage workers by having the executive order that says they are not getting a sustainable way? or has to be a way. we can do this by doing what we today is a done, wonderful day to start the march. in the name of a philip randolph , for the work he did, let's see if we can change the -- ♪ >> the park department has informed us that half of you need to come off the press rises, they are beginning to sag. please come off the press riser. the press riser is beginning to sag. speaker -- >> our next s

philip randolph and buyer dressed and. but have the team came -- byron rustin. a. philip randolph had the muscle through the union to be able to underwrite the march. and what can have done, remember when the youth began to go to jail, king was obligated to go to jail with him and he wrote the letter from the birmingham jail, essentially calling on white clergy to step forward. so the march was the opportunity to make white clergy demonstrate that they were, in fact, in support of civil rights. and they helped underwrite a significant portion of that, too. now, how does that move us figures for. well, the criticism of our president, and we should not be afraid to criticize our president to we shouldn't over criticize him. is that he has not done enough on social policy. and so we've come to washington. basically they came to washington in 1963 to make the unity administration take a higher profile. it wasn't until james meredith was shot at the university of mississippi that the kennedy administration sent federal troops down to the university of mississippi. well,

philip randolph, that at the banquet table of there are no reserved seats. we must organize. we must organize. we must organize. [applause] >> good afternoon.e i am so proud to represent the 1.6 million members of the american federation of state, county, and municipal employees, all the service workers whose labor touches communities throughout this nation. with dr. king in 1963 when he called on america to be true to its principles. five years later, dr. king stood with me when the workers of local 1733 demanded justice, dignity, and respect. the attorney for civil-rights workers rights, and economic rights began almost the moment america was born. it gained new momentum on these steps 50 years ago. and it advances whenever workere disenfranchised and disillusioned stand up, fight back, and march forward. because our struggle continues, we come to this memorial not only to commemorate the past, but to shape the future. we have the power to carry the determination, and the hope and passion of the march on washington forward. we must also have had the courag

a philip randolph, one of the key organizers for the march on washington, one of his primary concernsas he saw there were 6 million unemployed people and many more people in poverty. that was his primary concern. he said this is the crisis. look, we areld say worse off. i was complaining about 6 million, but now we are in a situation where there are 11 million workers who are unemployed, and millions more in poverty. that should be our primary national discussion, yet we have gone off -- we keep moving away from a real strong and important discussion about jobs and job creation. it is woefully unfair to ask you a question about the other issue raised in the study, unequal schools, but what say after theese years march on washington, all these years after brown versus board and pliny -- plessy burqas ferguson. many ways schools are still separate and unequal. >> it is like the minimum wage. it is quite shameful that we are in this situation. povertye of ghettos of and schools are all tied up to the fact that we still have high levels of segregation for african-americans in this society

philip randolph who was one of king's mentors, but she says it was king's speech that captivated the nation. >> the day after, oh, this is going to erupt into violence. everybody was praising it as a great demonstration. >> cobb said she can't believe she was a part of that history. >> i think it's a very unusual experience i've had and i'm very grateful. >> free at last, free at last. >> in oakland, nbc bay area news. >> and we have much more on our website, nbcbayarea.com. there under the dream day tag, you'll find video and a slide show of photos from the day as well as events marking the 50th anniversary. president obama plans to mark the moment by giving a speech this wednesday from the very steps where dr. king did 50 years ago. we want to thank you for making us a part of the abbreviated morning. no 5:00 or 6:00 tonight either, it's sunday night football night in america. followed by nbc bay area. here is "meet the press" special edition, remember the dream. >>> i'm david gregory. thank you for joining us for this rebroadcast of a special "meet the press" with dr. martin luthe

philip randolph institute as part of this new program. i've worked with all three organizations in a variety of different capacities so i'm especially pleased to see all three working together to help the youth of our city. i think this is the way things are supposed to work. i think where we take a look at the opportunities and see where they're going and figure out ways to improve them. i want to thank elaine and her staff to can come up with what are better solutions for giving opportunities to our youthv and thank our other port staff and also my colleague commissioner brandon who i think really asked some of the tough questions last time around. and i think we all are benefited from t. particularly our youth are benefited from it. i want to thank all of you and i'm very pleased. i also would like to come down, something i think is very important. let our youth know this is something we care about. it may not be one of our largest contracts you but i think it is one that is important to all of us. we know the significant impact it has

philip randolph. wilkins and rust in 1900 because i used to go to some of those -- he used to be there so i felt that kind of connection within. and i have met dr. king before and heard him speak in the church in raleigh. but we are also excited that dr. height was going to be on the stage. and the amazing thing is that we were waiting for dr. height to speaker i have to tell you that. we were waiting, the group of us who had come, we didn't know the full story them. we didn't know the dynamics than. we didn't know the inner workings than because we were not on the inside to hear it. and she was too much of a diplomat to tell the group ahead of time. and so as waited for her to speak, we never heard her speak verbally. but we dignity, with great power. and even though the only voice from a woman was mahalia jackson, and she did the national anthem. as dr. height sat there, she conveyed to us wisdom. she conveyed to us to see a diplomat, no matter what the circumstances might be your and she conveyed t

philip randolph institute, and leigh saunders, the president of the afl-cio.ause] >> in 1963, a philip randolph's opening remarks were, we hear today are only the first wave. when we leave, it will be to carry on the civil-rights revolution back home, and to every nook and cranny of this land. hello, freedom family. i am clayola brown, president of the a. philippe randolph institute. here we are 50 years later, a second wave, standing ready to carry on the revolution, ready to fight for jobs and freedom. standing ready to advance the struggles of a shared prosperity and equality for all of god's children. this is our charge. dr. kane said human progress is neither a automatic, nor inevitable. every step towards the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle. and i know you have heard it before but i will say it again, because it comes from our founder, a. philip randolph, that at the banquet table of nature, there are no reserved seats. you get when you take and you keep what you hold. if you cannot take anything, you will not get anything. if

philip randolph. remind us, remind the viewers who a. philip errand dolph why his legacy and the march remains important even now. >> randolph was the orchestrater to the march. bringing civil disobedience and large crowds to washington in order to garner support and movement was not new to him. in 1941, there was the design for a march because there was disparities within the military and especially ammunitions. randolph went to president roosevelt to say there needed to be a change so those who served would have an opportunity for good jobs. that theme hasn't changed. but it was eleanor roosevelt who went to him and said this is the right thing to do. the march in '41 was called off because the president then put forward an executive order, 8802. with the signature of a pen made jobs that were sustainable jobs available to minorities. >> reminds us, as you were saying, mrs. evers, this was speaking in washington, not just in washington but to washington of the president will speak on wednesday, the actual day that is the 50th anniversa

king and philip randolph, john lewis and others who led this massive march knew what they were doing this hallowed ground. in the shadow of lincoln's statue, in the burning memory of the fact that he gave his life to preserve the union and end slavery, martin luther king urged his crowd not to drink from the cup of bitterness. but to reach across the racial divide because he said we cannot walk alone. their destiny is tied up in our destiny. their freedom is bound in our freedom. he urged the victims of racial violence to meet white americans with an outstretched hand, not a clinched fist, to prove the redeeming power of unearned suffering. and then he dreamed of an america where all citizens would sit to believe a together at th. where his own children would be judged not by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. this march and that speech changed america. they opened minds, they melted hearts, and they moved millions, including a 17-year-old boy watching alone in his home in arkansas. it was an empowering moment, but also an empowered moment. as the great ch

we have to go back to the broadvision that philip randolph had. it was completely interconnected. it was both a racial justice issue and and economic justice issue. you could not separate them. many of the struggles that we are facing today are connected to the economic inequality we are seeing. connected to the disempowerment of the american public. to go a little bit off of the central topic president obama's attempt for gun control. and yet it doesn't pass. that is unfortunately connected to something that congressman ellison talked about, the influence of money and lobbyists. we have a real crisis in our democracy right now. one of the important forces is labor. that is why labor is under attack. we really need to do more to broaden a host of issues, a host of organizations. it is also crucial that we figure out how to strengthen and extend labor. many other progressive movements are connected to the labor movement. we need to build movement and particularly, the labor movement. also a lot of the civil rights struggles are connected to the labor struggle and the growing econom

philip randolph famously in 1941 threatened franklin roosevelt with a 100,000 person march to get themsue an executive order to get them to obsession the defense industry. and frankly, i hope he takes his own advice as he mentioned today. and not just give a speech. but the president has the power to take action to lift two million workers, at poverty level, has the power to change it with the stroke of the pen. >> tom joyner asked him today what he thinks martin luther king jr. would say today about what has become of his dream. let's listen to that. >> when it comes to the economy, when it comes to inequality, when it comes to wealth. when it comes to you know, the challenges that inner cities experience, he would say that we have not made as much progress as the civil and social progress that we've made. and that it is not enough just to have a black president. it is not enough just to have a black syndicated radio show host. the question is, as an ordinary person, day to day, can they succeed? and we have not made as much progress on that as we need to. and that is something i spen

. >> can i pay tribute to the two men who organized the march, philip randolph and bayard rustin, especiallyandolph, a man of immense dignity, who believed in peaceful, direct action, as dor ris just said. you go after your opponents relentlessly. superior emotional discipline and self-control and force them, the racists in that case, to display their own evil and transfer the whole debate that way by a superior dignity. that was part of what the march did, took a strategy deeply thought through and expressed to the nation and showed how you make social change. >> sheryl wudunn, you won a pulitzer prize covering china, particularly the demonstrations in tiananmen square. the resonance that you saw covering tiananmen square of that 1963 march. >> oh, absolutely. look, martin luther king's speech was the greatest speech of the 20th century, so it had to have an impact around the world. the underlying need for better jobs, better, you know, life and also freedom was very strong. a chinese student leader actually invoked martin luther king as his role model during the tiananmen square movement.

philip randolph