That is something i have been working on and committed to for decades. We saw similar problems back in the 1980s, when i served on a workforce Training Commission organized by the Wt Grant Foundation and the National Center for the economy. The problems have grown more complex as the economy has changed. Nearly 6 million young people are out of school and out of work. That is almost one in every six. For young people of color, things are even harder. If you do not have a College Degree or did not graduate from high school, most stores are not open, no matter how hard you not. Think about what that means. It is not just about missing a paycheck or going without benefits, like health care, when young people cannot find work, they miss out on a crucial period of personal and professional growth that reverberates for decades in lower wages and lost opportunities. Those first jobs i certainly remember my first job that is where you learn skills, even if it is just showing up on time. That is where you build networks and gain confidence and experience the dignity of work and responsibility. If you miss out on all of that, frustration, rejection, and poverty gives you a much less positive outcome. And the rest of your family and community and society. Economists say our youth Unemployment Crisis could cost america roughly 20 billion in lost earnings over the next decade alone. There is no doubt that the biggest cause of youth unemployment is an economy that is not generating enough demand despite the recovery. We need to keep growing and investing in the Building Blocks of the 21st century. This is sometimes overstated. But it is true that to get a good job, you have to in our economy have some form of specific skills and proven work experience. And not just a strong work ethic that was a ticket to the middle class for my parent. Many Young Americans do not have these qualifications and i would argue that it starts at the very beginning and goes all the way through their schooling. They do not get the job experiences that they need outside of the classroom. They do not know what is expected of them. When skills training is available, too often it is disorganized, it does not actually exist, or is it for industries that are shrinking. We need to do more to sync up young people workforce Training Programs and employers looking to hire. As part of the Clinton Foundation effort, we are reaching out to businesses big and small and really trying to drill down on what their actual needs are and why what they have tried before has not worked. And how we can do a better job in a public, private partnership to resolve these difficulties. Apprenticeships, partnerships with community colleges, cross sector collaborations, forwardlooking companies that recognize that molding the talent pool for the future is good for them. That is an investment worth making. Take the gap. It recently raised its bottom wages. It has lots of experience hiring and training Young Americans, many for the first jobs. They have partnered with many nonprofits to provide job training and paid internships. To underserved youth who might not otherwise make it through their doors. Most of the young people who complete the program go on to become fulltime gap employees. Or consider corning. Famous for supplying the gorilla glass for the iphone. To stay on the cutting edge, they need a steady pipeline of high skilled talent. They have invested in internships that help students explore careers and they are providing onthejob apprenticeships in their factories. At the Clinton Global Initiative annual conference in denver next month, we are assembling a network of businesses willing to step up, expanding hiring, training, mentoring, hopefully to create a virtuous ripple throughout the economy. Engaging with others in the Business Community and beyond to encourage more partners to come off the sidelines. For some to use some of that cash that is sitting there waiting to be deployed. To help build training infrastructures that will help entire industries. To help use supply chains as force multipliers. To work with schools, nonprofits, unions, and elected officials. To coordinate everyone who has a legitimate, sincere interest in moving forward together. We will be announcing more details about that in the meeting in denver. This is a longterm challenge. We cannot wait for government, which seems so paralyzed and unfortunately at a time when we could be racing ahead. We cannot wait because we have a rising generation of young people. The socalled millennial generation. They are optimistic, tolerant, creative, generous as a cohort. They have so much potential, so much to contribute. They can be the participation generation, the innovation generation not a lost generation. Because we have not tended to what social supports they need in order to make their mark. Now, working with my husband and daughter at our foundation, our motto is that we are all in this together. Which we totally believe you read we believe in the American Dream. We believe in social mobility. We believe that what worked for my mother or for bills mother, these Horatio Alger rags to riches stories, these are still possible. This is what has fueled the idea of america. That is what is part of what has always made this country great. The chance that anyone of us could move forward, no matter where we came from. That we can achieve so much. That there is no limit on what can be achieved with big talent and big ideas. But if you look at american history, there is another story to tell about how upward mobility really works. In part, this is the complement to the rugged individualist story that we all know so much about and some of you have lived. It is about communities that are ecosystems of opportunities. As eric schmidt knows, the personal computer revolution needed more than one or two people in a garage. It needed silicon valley. Networks of public and private universities, investors, competitors, collaborators. It needed state and local governments that invested in the future and human potential. It needed a culture of risk taking and creativity. This story about the link between Strong Communities and the American Dream goes very deep. One of the first great observers and chroniclers of america was alexis de tocqueville. He traveled across the new country of ours in 1830s, learning everything about this radical idea called democracy. And the men and women who made it work. He was amazed by the social and economic equality and mobility he saw here, unheardof in the aristocratic era. And by what he called, our habits of the heart. The everyday values and customs that set americans apart from the rest of the world you read it found a nation of joiners, clubs, congregations, civic organizations, political parties, groups that bound communities together and invested those famous rugged individualist and the welfare of their neighbors. This made the democratic experiment possible. Talk about a big idea. Those early americans were volunteers and problem solvers. They believed that their own selfinterest was advanced by helping their neighbors. Like benjamin franklin, they formed volunteer Fire Departments because if your neighbors house is on fire, it is your problem too. Middleclass women went into the most dangerous 19thcentury slums to help children who had no one else standing up for them. Americans came together, inspired by religious faith, civic virtue, common decency to lend a hand to those in need. And to improve their lives and their communities and that made our democratic experiment possible. It made america an exceptional nation. I believe with all my heart that is still true. We see that where the fabric of community is strong even today, places with a vibrant middle class, twoparent families, good schools unions, churches, civic organizations, places integrated across class and racial lines, that is where we still see upward mobility in america. It is not about average income. Researchers point to cities with similar affluence that have markedly different rates of economic mobility. It is not about race. Like and white residents of a city like atlanta have local port mobility. It is about all of these other factors that add up. It suggests that investing in our neighborhood institutions, strengthening Community Bonds have to be part of our strategy for reducing inequality, increasing mobility, and renewing the American Dream. It is not just about money. As important and critical factor that is. It is about how we live with one another, how we treat and look out for one another. It is about how we see one another. How we organize ourselves, what we value. Whether in this atomized age we can still come together to solve our problems the way the early americans did, that is the big question we face. We now spend most of our time talking to people who agree with us. Big sort has happened. That is a we are comfortable with. We do not really want to hear from the other side, no matter what side we are on. That is what makes compromise a difficult. Because we do not put ourselves any longer in anyone elses shoes. Why are some people across the political divide believing what they believe . Holding their values so strongly against what we believe to be right . We do not get back into a conversation that cuts across all those lines that divide us. It will be very difficult to tackle the economic and social problems that stand in the way of moving away from inequality toward greater equality, economically and socially. But i believe that the time has come. The time for us to begin not only a conversation, but a serious effort by which big ideas will renew america for our sake, for our children, and yes, for a future grandchildren. It will not surprise you to hear me say, it i think it really does take a village. Thank you very much. [applause] this week we spoke with reason Pulitzer Prize winner when greenwald. He talks about his notebook no place to hide. You can see that interview this sunday at 2 00 p. M. Eastern on cspan. On may 17, 1954, the Supreme Court in manas unanimously inuck down discrimination Public Schools in the brown versus board of education decision. An event hosted by the naacp Legal Defense and Educational Club at the National Press in washington dc. This is an hour and 15 minutes. I am the seventh director council of the naacp Legal Defense fund and many know that our sixth director counsel, john peyton, the brilliant lawyer from washington, d. C. Who is well known to many of you passed away while he was director counsel. We wanted to be sure that all the director counsels are represented here today and i am just absolutely thrilled and happy that someone who actually was very early hero of mine is here today and has joined us and thats john peytons wife, a human rights activist in her own right. [applause] many know that Howard Law School was the incubator of much of the thinking that went into the early civil rights litigation work and so i would like to thank the interim dean and the howard faculty for oining us today as well. Many know that it really does take a village of amazing activists lawyers advocates brilliant people who have committed their lives to making america better for everyone. And i would ask that any of you who are here who are leading organizations stand. But i want to especially acknowledge the person who leads the Umbrella Organization in which we all sit and that is ade henderson. It is my pleasure and honor to introduce to you attorney general eric holder who was sworn in as the 82nd attorney general of the United States in 2009. We are so thrilled that he chose to join us today on this very important day. His bio is in the program so i wont belabor reading it. He is known to many of you. I did want to make a few important notes that you should know about him. The first is that attorney general holder is very closely connected to our civil rights history. His wife is dr. Sharon malone who is the sister of Vivian Malone, the student who helped desegregate the university of alabama. It is also true that attorney general holder very early in his career served as an intern at the Legal Defense fund. And it is also true that as many of you have seen in the past two years this is an attorney general of tremendous courage. His willingness to step forward and address the issue of overincarceration and of deep deep problems in the criminal Justice System is really unprecedented. I do not think you will we have had certainly or will have another attorney general who will acknowledge the role that prosecutors can play in dealing with the issue of overcharging which leads to overincarcerations. His commitment to dealing with the issue of harsh penalties meted out to nonviolent drug offenders sets him apart among attorney generals weve had in this country. His recent efforts around clemency, his willingness to use the bully pulpit of his office to educate america about the power that prosecutors have and about the ways in which the rapid and increased overincarceration in this country hurts all of us and impearls the vitality of our Society Shows him to be a courageous leader frankly in the tradition that is we revere and honor at the Legal Defense fund. So we were thrilled that he could take time out of his very, very busy schedule to join us to make a few remarks and so i present to you the 82nd attorney general of the United States mr. Eric holder. [applause] thank you. Well, thank you all so much for that warm welcome. And thank you for those kind words and thank you all for such a warm welcome. It is really a pleasure for me to be here today and it is a prive lincoln to join dedicated privilege to join dedicated Public Servants along with trail blazers. Gabe who is near and dear to me i think on a personal basis i know its difficult for you but i miss our guy. On a daily basis. John baiten, a great great man. [applause] its great to be here in celebrating the work of the naacp Legal Defend Fund in commemorating the victory that this organization helped to secure 60 years ago tomorrow. And in recommiting ourselves to the critical work that still lies before us. The fight is not over. Now, i would like to thank our host the National Press club and every member and supporter of lmp df for making this important observance possible. Its a tremendous honor to take part in this celebration and to stand with lawyers who participated in the brown case, the families of the courageous plaintiffs who made this landmark decision possible, and with mrs. Sissy marshall the wife of the late Thurgood Marshall, one of our great civil rights pioneers who helped found this organization nearly three quarters of a century ago. Since 1940 ldf has perform critical work to rally americans to the unifying cause of justice. Standing on the front lines of our fight to guarantee security advance opportunity and to ensure equal treatment under law. Your enduring legacy is written not only in the words of legal opinions, but in the remarkable once unimaginable progress that so many of us have witnessed even within our own lifetimes. The fact that i serve in an administration led by another African American bears witness o that progress. [applause] your actions alongside those of countless citizens whose names may be unknown to us now but whose contributions and sacrifices endure have forever altered the course of our nations great history. Decades ago brave individuals from across the country sustained by the strength of their convictions, fueled by their desire for change, and represented by lawyers from the imminent organizations including visionary attorneys like thurgoord marshall, Robert Carter and Jack Greenberg embarked on a dangerous long and grueling march that culminated on may 17, 1954 at the United StatesSupreme Court. It was a march that led through difficult and uncertain terrain. From the injustice injustice of plessy versus ferguson to the dark days of jim crow and of slavery by another name from the discrimination and violence and the strange fruit that ultimately gave rise to a unified Civil Rights Movement and to the founding and growth of ldf. It was a march that tested the soul of this country and questioned its president Abraham Lincoln once asked whether a nation dedicated to the proposition that all are created equal could long endure. And it was a march that was immeasurably strengthened by the transformative power of a single Court Decision where nine jurists came together led by one of my idols chief Justice Earl Warren, the ice of the world upon them, to unanimously declare that separate was inherently unequal. Now, i was just three years old in 1954 when brown was decided. Please dont do the math. Yeah, yeah. Hes that old . Thanks to some of the pioneers in this room, my generation my generation, was the first to grow up in a world in which separate but equal was no longer the law of the land. Even as a child growing up in new york city i understood as i learned about the decision that its impact was truly groundbreaking bringing the law in line with the f