his protege was bayard rustin. ran thatstin institute, bringing together label -- labor and civil-rights. >> it is interesting for me to philipalter hear waltera. a. philip randolph as mr. randolph. we 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 o

this is an audio test. >> bayard rustin and i got up very early. we went out to the mall. there was literally nobody, and bayard turned to me and said, do you think anybody is coming to this march? >> bayard took a walk on the mall just to check on the march facilities, and the press was surrounding, saying mr. rustin, what's happening? you said there were going to be 250,000, there's only half a dozen here. >> and bayard went into his pocket and pulled out a piece of paper. >> i looked at my watch. >> and he looked at the piece of paper and looked at the watch. >> and i said, gentleman, everything is going according to schedule. >> they walked away and i said to bayard, what are you looking at? he said nothing, it was a blank piece of paper. >> i was terrified the people weren't going to show up. >> a lot of people on the bus were tense. we're getting all these news stories about all the march is going to be violent, we've got to hide the white women. it's going to be riots and devastation. the march was going to be a flop. the dawn starts to come up over the eastern shor

and bayard rustin said to me -- he was joking, just joking. he said, "john, you can't say you cannot be patient." said the catholic church believed in being patient. he was just kidding me. but then, there was some people who said something like, "in the speech, you're saying revolution, black masses." what are you talking about? and a. 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 on

and bayard rustin said to me -- he was joking, just joking. he said, "john, you can't say you cannot be patient." the catholic church believed in being patient. he was just kidding me. but then, there was some people who said something like, "in the speech, you're saying revolution, black masses. what are you talking about?" and a. 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 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,

. >> bayard rustin and i got up very early. we went out to the mall. there was literally nobody, and bayard turned to me and said, do you think anybody is coming to this march? >> bayard took a walk on the mall just to check on the march facilities, and the press was surrounding, saying mr. rustin, what's happening? you said there were going to be 250,000, there's only half a dozen here. >> and bayard went into his pocket and pulled out a piece of paper. >> i looked at my watch. >> and he looked at the piece of paper and looked at the watch. >> and i said, gentleman, everything is going according to schedule. >> they walked away and i said to bayard, what are you looking at? he said nothing, it was a blank piece of paper. >> i was terrified the people weren't going to show up. >> a lot of people on the bus were tense. we're getting all these news stories about all the march is going to be violent, we've got to hide the white women. it's going to be riots and devastation. the march was going to be a flop. the dawn starts to come up over the eastern shor

bayard rustin was the ones that formulated routes, organized the various organizations to come, as best as we could, because there wasn't twitter and tweeting and e-mails and all of that stuff back then, but an absolute mastermind at pulling people together, of like mind, but different kinds of organizations together. and he was the one that did that. topped with an obstacle of being a member of the lbgt community. >> right. because i think one of the things about this weekend and this celebration that i think is so notable is the diversity. and the lbgt community, women's organizations, we're talking about immigration, we're talking about workers' rights, and we've really expanded the conversation in the last 50 years. >> you would think that 50 years later, we would have addressed a whole theme of the march. jobs, justice, and freedom. we are right back again, jobs, justice, and freedom. and we're back again because we need to be back again. because there's still not a living wage or a sustainable wage. for most americans who are working. >> you know, myrlie, i would love to hear your

king, a philip randolph, bayard rustin, john lewis. on 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 s

bayard rustin was a quaker. he attended meetings each week listening to the voice of the divine that could speak to anyone of us. across this nation, of voices are ready to rise for opportunity and justice and freedom for every young person, no matter who they are, what did look like, or who they love. listen for those forces. lift them up so that they can be heard. when we do that, we shall all rise. thank you for the great honor of standing with you today. [applause] >> ladies and gentlemen, five- time nba most a valuable player, bill russell. [applause] >> good afternoon. it is nice to be here. i was sitting in the first row, 50 years ago, and it is nice to be anywhere 50 years later. [laughter] 50 years ago, the night before the march, i met dr. king, and it was one of the greatest experiences of my life. he invited me to be up here, and i respectfully declined because the organizers had worked for years to get this together, and i have not done anything. so i wanted to continue my life as an interested byst

bayard rustin was a quaker. he attended meetings each week listening to the voice of the divine that could speak to anyone of us. across this nation, of voices are ready to rise for opportunity and justice and freedom for every young person, no matter who they are, what did look like, or who they love. listen for those forces. lift them up so that they can be heard. when we do that, we shall all rise. thank you for the great honor of standing with you today. [applause] >> ladies and gentlemen, five- time nba most a valuable player, bill russell. [applause] >> good afternoon. it is nice to be here. i was sitting in the first row, 50 years ago, and it is nice to be anywhere 50 years later. [laughter] 50 years ago, the night before the march, i met dr. king, and it was one of the greatest experiences of my life. he invited me to be up here, and i respectfully declined because the organizers had worked for years to get this together, and i have not done anything. so i wanted to continue my life as an interested byst

philip randolph, bayard rustin, congressman john lewis, dorothy height, on 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 poor, to the ceo and a sanitation worker, and 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. ensure corporate forces will never be silent. we must fight for good jobs and decent pay. a just and become fair society of our ideals. above all, we must uphold the principle that everyone who contributes to the prosperity of this nation should share in the prosperity of our nation. a just and fairthank you. [applause] >> please welcome the u.s. representative from maryland's fourth district, the honorable edwards.rds -- donna >> i represent maryland's fourth congressional district. as the first african-american woman to represent maryland in the house of representatives, on behalf of my sisters in congress, i am stan too proud -- proud to stand here today

. >> can i pay tribute to the two men who organized the march, philip randolph and bayard rustin, especially randolph, 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 and bayard rustin, and bayard rustin didn't get the credit that he should receive. and i'm so glad that president barack obama is going to give him the medal of freedom in a few weeks, maybe a month or so. it is long overdue. countless people organize the unorganized and mobilize and put it together. i want to throw a question for any of the panelists to answer, and that is, as we look at the popular media was going on in washington now and across our nation in voter education and voter rights, it would appear to someone who is unknowledgeable or unskilled that we are rolling back our freedom, one of the things we're here to march for. we are rolling back civil rights. and how do we begin to mobilize ourselves that we can now address those rollbacks that are taking place in a positive way? >> the irony, the irony is that 50 years ago it was the southern democratic party that we were fighting, who are keeping blacks from voting in the south with police officers, with violence, with death, economic retaliati retaliation. and they reclaim states' rights at that particu

host: josh, what do you know about bayard rustin that you would want to share with the audience? did comen fact, bayard and stay with me for a week one- time peer that is when the governor brown was just coming on board. and he is an organizer. way back when, they started segregating the army and stuff like that, though -- so bayard played a role into doing that. host: from "politico" -- apple's tim cook, tech execs meet with barack obama to talk surveillance host: pete, des moines, democrat. presidential medal of freedom, who would you nominate? caller: i would like to nominate jerry garcia. host: why yo>? -- why? caller: because i think he was the most prominent musician of our time. host: and what is your question? caller: does the person have to be alive to be nominated? a lot of posthumous awards are given. caller: ok. thank you, love the show. host: thank you for calling in. irene in the saint pete. caller: hi, how are you? host: i am good, how are you? caller: great. sayt off, i would like to dr. benjamin carson -- host: i should note he has been awarded the medal of freed

king and sent bayard rustin down to try to talk little sense into us. we were what you used to call freedom high. bayard makes sense, but there was nobody in birmingham that was particularly enthusiastic about the march on washington. main, who was probably the ideologist assigned the march, wouldn't even come. i was not coming until dr. king called and said, you and dean better get on a plane. militantkind of arrogance. that infected us. >> and the market itself? >> the march itself, i was worried -- the march itself? >> the march itself, i was worried that it wouldn't do anything. there was not a lot of harmony. the naacp and the urban league didn't want the march. for different reasons. it didn't look like it was going to be fun until the people started. when the people -- i was out there on the lawn at 7:00 in the morning when the buses started coming in. when they started coming in and , from justedom songs , you every direction couldn't hold back the tears. you realized that this was something special, and what i think it did was, it took a and wi

king and sent bayard rustin down to try to talk little sense into us. we were what you used to call freedom high. bayard makes sense, but there was nobody in birmingham that was particularly enthusiastic about the march on washington. james, who was probably the main ideologist assigned the march, wouldn't even come. i was not coming until dr. king called and said, you and dean better get on a plane. it was a kind of militant arrogance. that infected us. >> and the march itself? >> the march itself, i was worried that it wouldn't do anything. there was not a lot of harmony. the naacp and the urban league didn't want the march. for different reasons. it didn't look like it was going to be fun until the people started. when the people -- i was out there on the lawn at 7:00 in the morning when the buses started coming in. when they started coming in and singing freedom songs, from just about every direction, you couldn't hold back the tears. you realized that this was something special, and what i think it did was, it took a southern black movement and wit

king and sent bayard rustin down to try to talk little sense into us. we were what you used to call freedom high. bayard makes sense, but there was nobody in birmingham that was particularly enthusiastic about the march on washington. james, who was probably the main ideologist behing the march, wouldn't even come. i was not coming until dr. king called and said, you and jean better get on a plane. it was a kind of militant arrogance that infected us. >> and the march itself? >> the march itself, i was worried that it wouldn't do anything. there was not a lot of harmony. the naacp and the urban league didn't want the march. for different reasons. it didn't look like it was going to be fun until the people started. when the people -- i was out there on the lawn at 7:00 in the morning when the buses started coming in. when they started coming in and singing freedom songs, from just about every direction, you couldn't hold back the tears. you realized that this was something special, and what i think it did was, it took a southern black movement and with t

king and sent bayard rustin down to try to talk a little sense into us. we were what you used to call back then freedom high. [laughter] and bay yard made sense, but there was nobody in birmingham that was particularly enenthusiastic about the march on washington. james bevel, who i think was probably the main ideologies behind the march, wouldn't even come. i was not coming until dr. king called and said get on a plane and get up here, you'll be sorry. so it was a kind of a militant arrogance that infected us. >> and the march itself -- >> the march itself, i was worried that it would, i wasword that it wouldn't do anything. there'd been a lot of -- john can tell you, there was not a lot of harmony. snicc wasn't that anxious about the march. you know, the naacp and the urban league didn't want the march for different reasons. and so it didn't can look like it was going to be fun til the people started. and when the people, i mean, i was with out there on the lawn at 7:00 in the morning when the buses started coming in. and when they started coming in sin

and his trusted and brilliant field coordinator and organizer, the late bayard rustin. christian, that's how you can -- within eight weeks -- have a march. [laughter] you get some good organizers together. but 50 years ago a. phillip randolph and the other planners of the march on washington reminded our nation that millions of our citizens, black and white, were unemployed. the flyer from the march on washington for jobs and freedom carried this quote, and i quote: discrimination and economic deprivation plague the nation and rob all people, negro and white, of dignity and self-respect. as long as black workers are disenfranchised, ill-housed and denied education and are economically depressed, the fight of white workers for a decent life will fail. end of quote. today, 50 years since the march on washington, millions of working families of all hues, genders and immigrant status are struggling to find decent jobs and decent wages that can support and sustain themselves and their families. they want an economic model of shared prosperity for all. fifty years since the m

and wish you the opportunity to attend the famous debate between malcolm x and bayard rustin. she eventually went on to earn a doctorate at ucla and educational psychology with a specialization in measurement evaluation and statistics. dr. kelly speaks of a lengthy to include greek, french, spanish and mandarin. at the time of the march in washington she was a teacher in washington, d.c. public school system rather than march with a teachers union she chose to attend as brecksville the african-american red cross volunteer. dr. kelly is a passionate intellectual and national teacher. i have learned so much from her in the past few months. chris hager, ceded to the left of dr. kelly, was born in washington, d.c. in 1944 where his dad had a wartime posting with the navy. his yankee parents moved his family to north carolina when you was a little boy integral primarily in asheville still in what he felt a bit like an anthropologist and a foreign land. the only yankee minister in the town that the congress shall church his family attended reacted to the events of the early civil ri

and his trusted and brilliant coordinator and organizer, the late bayard rustin. that is how you can have a march in eight weeks it's in good organizers together. 50 years ago, they reminded our nation that millions of our citizens, black and white, were unemployed. the fire for the march on washington -- the fire for the march on washington carried this quotation. "the civic segregation played all people, negro and white and robert of dignity and self- respect -- robbed them of dignity and self respect." today, 50 years since the march on washington to run millions of working families of all hues, genders, an immigrant status are struggling to find decent jobs and wages that can support and sustain themselves and their families. they want an economic model of shared prosperity for all. 50 years since the march on washington, working families including our veterans still need active and decent and affordable housing. 50 years after the march on washington our families and communities still want access to quality public education for all our children. and 50 years