The greensboro lunch counter. I am sure that we will hear more about her. A perfect fit for the king day awards, because of her Lifelong Service and commitment to justice and equal opportunity. We were delighted to present her with the award. Unfortunately, she could not join us, but we do have someone who knows her well to accept the award on her behalf. Here we have david cox president of the National Also see asian of employees. [applause] well, good morning, brothers and sisters. You know that this is a wonderful morning. Lets just stop to think about it. Barack obama is president of the United States. That is an achievement. Now, i just heard from the secretary of housing and urban development and i am telling you, you know, that is an achievement, too. Look, dr. Kings dream is alive. We also heard from the secretary of health and Human Services a woman, yes, dr. Kings kings dream is alive. Miss augustine was born in 1922. Do the math right fast. She had to have a little medical procedure. She is not here because she is elderly and working her but off in the senate in louisville, kentucky, just a few weeks ago. She will be back on her feet and joining us in a few more weeks marching again as she has been marching all of her life. I am so very honored and privileged to receive this award for someone that i admire and someone who has mentored me my entire life, miss Augustine Thomas. Now, i asked her what do you want me to talk about this morning . What would you say on accepting this award . She has many, many stories. The one she wanted me to share with you this morning, all of her life she has stood up for workers, for union members, for winning fair wages and dignity him the job, as well as equal opportunity. In 1960 she was living in louisville kentucky and had six children. The lord was eventually going to bless her with nine. Had six children. They needed help at the greensboro lunch counter. She was outraged with what was going on. Thank god, today Augustine ThomasAugustine Thomas made North Carolina better state with her work and actions. She said that these young men need help and has spent her life helping others. So, she went to her husband and said i told him, i was going to go to greensboro and you all this was 1960. This was before women had arrived in this country. He looked at her and said your father and i will discuss this situation. Well, they came back and told her it was too dangerous. You are a mother, you know, you are a wife, you could get hurt and go to jail. You could even be killed. She said i understand all of that, but i am going. Well, they talked for a few minutes and said ok, we are going to agree to let you go. She said no, stop right there. I told you that i made this decision, im going. I dont need my husband and my father telling me whether i can go or not. Yes, she was a fighter for womens rights in this country also. So, she went on to greensboro. She sat there, day after day. People spat on her. They hit her. They kicked her. They knocked her off the stool. She kept getting back up. She was arrested twice in the process. As she tells the stories, as she tells it to me, miss augustine is very lightskinned. She said that they were more vicious, more evil, and more wicked to her because they thought she was white and that she was being a traitor to her race. But you know, miss augustine is not a traitor to any race. Augusta thomas is a person that fights for every individual in this country. She told me to end the story today, that she believes in helping anybody who cannot help themselves at the time. And it does not matter whether a person is male or female, black or white, gay or straight, even a democrat or a republican. She said if they need help, we should help them we should stand by them. When i think of all of the things that Augustine Thomas has done in her life, i will tell you, brothers and sisters join with Augustine Thomas, the dream of Martin Luther king. Encourage someone to get an education, that needs to get a chance in this life. Help us child. Get the arts back in the school. First of all, go out and get someone to vote today and register them to vote and live the dream forever, for dr. King and for augusta thomas. Thank you also much. Miss augusta, thank you from the bottom of our hearts for this award. [applause] now you see not only why we honored miss augustine a, but also by president cox be the one to accept the award. He has to collect every year now. I want to draw your attention back to the idiot screen. King day is something that we all look forward to. It became a law in 1983. All 50 states did not observe it until 2000. At this point i want to knowledge that the president created a video and he will tell you more on what you need to do, but he is part of the dream that dr. King talked about. So, at this time i think the video is ready and we can turn our attention to the screen. Hi, everybody. Today we pay tribute to dr. Martin luther king jr. We reflect on the lessons of his life and the extraordinary change that begins when ordinary men and women are willing to stand up for the progress they seek. We draw strength from his unbending moral force and belief in nonviolence. Just as we celebrate what he achieved we recommit ourselves to our unfinished work defending the dignity and equality of all people. That is why today we come together in a national they of service. As dr. King once said, lifes most persistent and urgent question is what are you doing for others . Cleaning up parks visiting hospitals, working at food banks, reading to children. They are doing their part to honor dr. King by heating his call to serve. To everyone out there volunteering today, thank you. To everyone who wants to join in , it is not too late. Just go to www. Mlk day. Com to find a project happening right now near you. Dr. King is an inspiration to millions around the world including me. We feel his legacy all around us. In our schools, communities, halls of government, and most importantly in our hearts and in how we treat each other, with kindness and respect, binding us together. That one day all americans would treat each other as brothers and sisters. Lets do our part to make that dream real. Not just today, but every day. [applause] is everyone having a good time . I told you we would have a good time today. You all having a good time . We are closing in on the end of the program, but we have two very special presentations that we want to have right now. One that really focuses on education. As we all know in this room, education is key. Knowledge is power. We also know that that is one of the main reasons that people of our color were shut out of the educational system. Once you learn, you are able to grow. Whether it was the little rock nine or frederick douglas, they had to have an education. The National Education network is pleased to bring up dr. Mark is right, the executive director of the education for a better america. The mission of the corporation is to build ridges between policymakers and the classroom by supporting innovation in the delivery of education and creating a dialogue between policymakers, Community Leaders educators, parents students, disseminating information positively to impact our schools. If we are ever going to get out of the hole that we are in it will come through education and be led by individuals like dr. Like dr. Mark is right marcus wright. Lets bring him to the stage now. I do bring greetings from education for a better america. We are only two years old but we have been able to partner with universities and School Districts to conduct a myriad of programs for parents and students across the country. For example, this fall we conducted a Higher Education awareness tour in miamidade county. That district went on to bust thousands of those students to the polls to vote early october 27 and october 28, 2000 or election. Dr. King, the man that we celebrate today, once posed the question what good does it do a man to have access to an integrated lunch counter if you cannot afford to buy his wifes dinner . He was calling for what so many have been working for this room, access and equity. We want equitable ways to be able to raise our families. [laughter] [applause] david johns is here with his teach the babies movement, which has been a critical call for action. For Early Childhood education of a highquality nature. We can assist in that movement by making sure that those programs are implemented in an equitable fashion and encouraging parents to teach their babies to read, talk, and sing for 30 minutes per day. To cultivate bring development. Ultimately, civil rights activism like that must be complemented. And from collaboration from service providers, with all of us working together accomplishing more than the best of us working alone. As we seek to move from demonstration the legislation, we cannot forget separation. After the doors of opportunity are opened for access, we must make sure that we have the skills to walk through it. Unfortunately, many of very many of our young people are not prepared and that is on us. As we renew access to equity, it equals a better america. Access plus equity equals a more perfect union. We can truly be a nation with liberty and justice for all. Thank you. [applause] thank you. Thank you so much. My favorite part of the program, this is the part where we talk about what next. As we look out at the fights that have taken place, it was always the younger people who helped to leave lead the fight in the future. They led the fights in the past. It should be no different today. When you take the young people and ask the question . What is wrong with the youth of today . Just look at what is right with the youth of today. You saw the video. Who was on the front lines behind reverend sharpton and sidebyside with him . Who was there with president obama needed those people to get the word out about the campaign in 2008 . Who was the one out there that made sure that the word got out . It was those young people, tweeting twitting, we didnt even know what they were doing on those things but they turned the people out. To talk about what the use is doing, please bring up Rihanna Patterson, who will tell us what the youth have in store next. [applause] good morning, everyone. My name is Rihanna Patterson and i am the northeast regional director for the National Northeast action network. I am so happy to be here this morning to bring you remarks from the perspective of the millennial generation. First i would like to say congratulations to all of our honorees this morning and your dedication to be like king and continue to be like came. I would like to thank reverend sharpton for his and his staff for hosting this annual event. To honor those who are doing the work and making sure that we are trying and striving to be more like king. I also want to thank reverend sharpton for giving myself and other millennial Generation Leaders the platform his mentorship, and his shoulders to stand on. After seeing the film, soma, last year, i realize that dr. King understood the importance of bridging the gap between old and the new. Then a Young John Lewis understood the need for strategic planning. The two of them were the links that bridged both generations together. Seeing that dr. King and reverend sharpton were both known when they started, i feel that my message to young people is to all americans, we have to study his character and his implementation in order to reach greater heights. We have to understand that in order to make the movement progress, we must come together and get out of the mentality that we can do it alone. Dr. King knew that it would take more than just that to make this movement progress. I also want to leave you with this note we are going to have to come together in order to make the world a better place. So, i leave you with this scripture that has played a role in my life and, i am sure, everyone knows it a house divided it divided against itself cannot stand, lets come together in peace and equality. Thank you. [applause] i am very proud of her. You did a great job. [applause] at this time we would like to thank our sponsors for helping us to put on this event year. We are honored to have lots of sponsors who give us their support. The first is the American Federation of government employees. Next is comcast. City lily. Sci you 1199. Walmart. Next we have ge and luke capital. 32 bj. I am not sure i hear one over there. B et networks. Aetna. Jackson lewis. Pepsico. And mtc. I would also like to knowledge that we have the honorable judge and a black worm rigsby here with us. Thank you for joining us. I know you have had such a wonderful time. Yes, he will do it. But we will say that for next year. I wanted to thank the d. C. Bureau staff for putting on this event. It has been a long week, but there is lots more to come. We have a long road ahead. Thank you for joining us this morning. We know that it was early and we look forward to seeing you again at some of our future events. Please check out our website for more information, as well as our annual convention, taking place in new york city, we hope that you join us for that. Have a great morning. Remember, today is a day on, not a day off. [applause] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2015] if you missed any of his National Action network day mlk broadcast, we will be airing it again later tonight. Also today, jeh johnson participated in a wreathlaying ceremony honoring dr. King at the mlk memorial in washington d. C. Here are parts of the ceremony. Someone help, come on. Come on. Mr. Johnson . In the front. May we have a moment of silence . A moment of silence . This is the moment of silence. We give thanks. For the memory of the challenge of what lies before us. Amen. Amen. Thank you all for coming out. We appreciate you going through your day of service and keeping in mind those less fortunate than us. God bless. [indiscernible] look here, folks. Right here, guys. This is the mayor and the secretary. The politics of impact, please . The politics of impact. Board members. Please. [indiscernible] [laughter] here. Here. [indiscernible] all right. Theory go. Here we go. Right up here. Look up here. Look up here. Here we go. Look up here, everybody. Thank you. [indiscernible] we will be showing the full ceremony from earlier today including remarks from secretary johnson, tonight at 7 00 eastern. Our cameras have been down there all day today, between the Lincoln Memorial at the far west end of the mall and the Jefferson Memorial across the tidal basin. This included the stone of hope sculpture. That is mlk standing there, with two large stones depicting the mountain of despair behind him. This is the image of his i have a dream speech. Just 4. 5 years later he was assassinated in memphis, tennessee. Lining the memorial here, 14 quotes from him along the inscription wall. It was president george h. W. Bush who set them off the holiday on the third monday of each year but it was not until 2000 that it was officially observed on the same day and all 50 states. People gather from all over to pay honor in tribute to reverend Martin Luther king jr. Him him members of congress, tweeting about mlk event that they are attending today. Patty murray tweets great to be in tacoma to honor his legacy and discuss next steps to make sure that all are treated equally. Bernie sanders says that he spent part of the day with striking fairpoint workers in south burlington. Jason smith tweeted that it was an honor to give remarks at the event in palmer bluffs this afternoon. Share your thoughts with us at twitter. Com cspan. President obama delivers his state of the union on tuesday night. Live coverage begins at 8 p. M. Eastern, including the president s speech, the gop response from joni ernst, and your reaction through open phones, live on cspan. Cspan2, watch the president s speech and congressional reaction from statuary hall in the u. S. Capitol. The state of the union, live on cspan, cspan2, cspan radio and cspan. Org. Tonight, a discussion on racism in america from cleveland, ohio, where the police force has come under scrutiny after the killing of two unarmed African Americans in november. Here is a part of the discussion. I would say that we need to spend more time walking in each others shoes. This issue of schools, before i started doing the work that i do now i used to work in schools. I often found it fascinating that we were able to find money for metal detectors, but not toilet paper and so when the bathroom. [applause] again, it gets to the issue of priorities and how we message to young people about the value of their worth. When you dont allow young people to have access to toilet paper or soap and cannot figure out a way to do that, you are telling them that you are not worthy. You do not deserve it. So, when we treat people like less than human from the time that they are children we condition them to walk through metal detectors before they can get their education. We are really conditioning young people for prison. By the time that they get there they have lost the ownership of their mind and bodys you can watch the entire Forum Tonight at 8 00 eastern, right here on cspan. Next, remarks by jim jordan and three new members of the 114th congress on how conservatives can better position their party for the next election. The panel is part of a twoday summit hosted by the Heritage Foundation and runs about one hour and 10 minutes. Not need a long introduction. You know him well. He has been a reliable friend on capitol hill. Let me say this about jim, then i will introduce and get him on here. Besides the fact that he is great on policy and courageous and all of that kind of stuff he is a friend. A friend and a trustworthy person. When he says he is going to go to the mat for you on an issue he goes to the mat for you on an issue. We have asked him to come in and talk about