ron kirk, ambassador. [applause] and now as we take our seats -- all of you are very special tonight. i do hope that you have a wonderful evening. but before we close the evening, we are honored to have a very special guest. would you please welcome to the stage mr. stevie wonder? [applause] [cheers] [applause] stevie, thank you so much for coming tonight. we appreciate you. >> it is truly an honor to be here at the beginning of this celebration of the memorial of dr. martin luther king jr. i want to personally and emotionally thank you, harry johnson, for making it possible for me to see the monument. he made it possible for me to go up and check it out and touch the face of dr. king. [applause] what i would like to do before i say any more is, through the wonder foundation commit to the foundation $10,000 per year that will allow as many people that are blind to go up in a cherry picker to see it. [applause] >> amazing. >> if that does not cover it, i guess i will have to sell some or records. [laughter]

please welcome ambassador ron kirk.how proud i am of this wonderful project. even though that was the cheapest way for harry to ask me for more money, i am so honored to be a part of tonight's kickoff of this wonderful week. you will be pleased to know, as i listened to the remarks from arm brothers from general motors, i started ripping pages out of my speech. so much of what i wanted to say, they said. i could not help but think so much about my own experiences growing up in austin, texas. that was a segregated as any other city in america. like so many of you here, i grew up a first generation beneficiary of the civil rights movement. before i go further comment for me to comment on what an honor for me to be here as a son of the civil-rights movement, it is my privilege to honor and acknowledge the children of dr. martin luther king, who are with us tonight. [applause] you have heard from previous speakers how each of us views of dr. king's work and how it is either inspired our life's work or informed it. i cannot

participants include former secretary of state madeleine albright, and ron kirk. this is one of the events leading up to the martin luther king, jr., a moral which opens this sunday. c-span is covering many of those events live, including the dedication at 11:00 a.m. on sunday. a bit of background -- the ceremony was moved out of the museum because of earthquake damage from yesterday to hear at the convention center. we will be back life when things get under way. until then, we will see what viewers this morning had to say about dr. king's legacy. host: the thing that drove us is a special section in "the washington post." takes a look at what he saw going into the show this morning, the shots of martin luther king, jr., taken from the moral. questions about or details about the moral including testimonials as well. as far as details, here are some that come from the paper this morning. the sculpture is called the stone of hope. it gets its way from the " i have a deram" speech. "the stone of hope." a single wedges pushed out and from there king's form the emerge

memorial foundation celebration dinner, including speeches by ron kirk, the u.s.de representative, and former secretary of state madeline albright. >> ladies and gentlemen, please welcome again miss andrea mitchell. >> i would like to welcome you all. the martin luther king foundation memorial campaign, who successfully led this idea to washington, mr. hairy johnson. >> thank you so much. thank you so much. thank you so much. thank you, thank you, thank you. your excellencies, members of the king family, other special guests that are with us tonight, hello everyone, and thank you for joining us tonight on this most auspicious occasion. to our ambassador of services, andrea mitchell. to all of you assembled tonight, i just say, how is everyone doing this evening? [applause] during his short term here on earth, martin luther king, jr. once said our lives begin to end the day we become solid about things that matter. tonight as we celebrate that world vision and commitment to peace and justice that guided dr. king and inspired the leaders here with us this evening, w

among those speaking, ron kirk and madeleine albright, former secretary of state. because of the earthquake yesterday, it has been moved over to the convention center. of course, that is ahead of this weekend's coverage of the dedication of the memorial. coverage begins live at 11:00 eastern on c-span and c-span radio and also streamed live on c-span.org. guests will also include jesse jackson congressman -- jackson, congressman ron lewis, and others. >> notice the color of the bourbon. that pretty amber color that you see is all coming from the char on the inside of the barrel. this char is where burping gets a lot of its color and a lot of its flavor. currently, they have discovered over 200 chemical flavors in the oak and char from the barrel. >> this weekend, we highlight frankfort, kentucky on "book tv." vice, violence, corruption, an urban renewal. tv" a visit to buffalo trace distillery. one of only four distilleries in operation during prohibition, for medicinal purposes, of course. and stop by the old state capital. >> with the new school year getting unde

wednesday's dinner commemorating martin luther king junior with remarks from trade representative ron kirk and former secretary of state madeline albright. before we get to "newsmakers," a quick look at comments from a recent town hall meeting hosted by the congressional black caucus. >> i think that we have reached the point in the history of this country that may be a defining political moment for all of us. this moment in history may be a challenge to our political maturity. i believe the time has arrived when we must eliminate any fear and discomfort we may have about raising difficult questions and creating challenge even when we feel a need even an obligation to protect the first african american president of the united states of america. [applause] make no mistake about it, i support president barack obama. i would like to see the president reelected. however, my niece who supports my need to support the president does not trump my

there will be speeches by people like ron kirk and former secretary of state madeleine albright. that is at 7:00. our coverage continues on thursday, too, as we bring you a look at civil-rights pioneers. among those speaking tomorrow, attorney general eric holder. all this is leading up to sunday's dedication of the martin luther king memorial, which will get underway at 11:00. we will have coverage on c-span, online at c-span.org, and at c- span radio. for politics and public affairs, nonfiction books and american history, is the c-span networks. it is available to you on television, radio and online, and on social media sites. search, watch and cheer our programs any time with the c- span video library. we are on the road with the c- span bus and content vehicles, bring the resources to local communities and showing events around the country washington your way. the c-span networks -- created by cable, provided as a public service. ♪ >> notice the color of the bourbon. the amber color uc is coming from the jar on the inside of the barrel. this is where bourbon gets all of its c