Than a year before dr. Kings most famous i have a dream speech on the national mall. Here is how the evening will work. First, joe madison will interview mr. Booker who was a club member, who not only attended the speech in 1962, but he helped organize it. As a member of the clubs Speakers Committee. Second, joe will interview, by telephone, dr. Cb jones, dr. Jones helped write the speech. Then, we will hear four speech excerpts, in the order that dr. King said them. We will hear his opening, and we will hear his closing. And we have to excerpts in the middle of the speech. There will be a Panel Discussion of these first, middle, and ending section after each section. One of these middle excerpts is a video clip. Everything else is audio, but there is one video clip. This video clip is the only known video clip of this speech to exist. There is no video or film of this event beginning to end that we know of, and we have searched far and wide. At the time we were doing these National Press club lunches in the 1960s, we only recorded them, we did not film them all, as we did today. So, while there is no video of the entirety of the speech, and we are not able to play, for you, the entirety of the speech in the q a because that would take too long, i want you to know that this video clip, the audio, and the entire speech, is on our website at press. Org mlk. You will also see a printed transcript of this entire event beginning to end, including all the questions he was asked that day, that is available on the website, feel free to access that and learn a lot more about this speech after tonight. After we hear the clips and discuss them, joe will interview journalist bruce johnson, and joe will close the program promptly at 9 00 p. M. Dr. Kings appearance here was one of the most significant things to ever happen at the National Press club. And to mark the significance of this event, and let me tell you, it is long past due, we have made a plaque that we are bringing out for the first time here today, and i said at the beginning that we would do this. We will put this plaque right outside the stores of the ballroom just to the left, there is a photo of lbj and nexen there right now. Lbj and nixon are going to get moved, they will not go away, but they are going to get moved to get moved because that is a highly prominent spots to have observed this highly significant event happened and that plaque will be at the National Press club, which really is a Living Museum if you walk around and look at the walls. That plaque will be there as long as the press club stands. And while i am only president for another week, believe me, if i ever come back and do not see plaque hanging there, there will be nonviolent direct action to make sure that that plaque is returned. [laughter] [applause] i dont think anybodys ever going to move it, frankly, because we are all in all of what were all going to hear tonight, and i heard some of the excerpts earlier this afternoon and it sent chills down my spine with no further a, i want to introduce mr. Joe madison. [applause] joe thank you. For more than half a century, Simeon Booker devoted his career to journalism, race relations, black politics, and watched the Civil Rights Movement evolved from its very beginning and the stories that he and his fellow black journalists told and the things they encountered are chronicled in a book that he has written, a biography, and putting this panel together, the first thing that we had to do was make sure that all of the participants are alive and here with us. When you consider it has been 50 plus years, we wanted to dig deep and far and get people who understood exactly what went on. It is interesting, the National Press club, the very first speaker, as you heard, was Martin Luther king, jr. You begin to wonder why it took so long to have the first speaker in 1962, you couldve had Jackie Robinson, thurgood marshall, marian anderson, the list goes on and on. Booker t washington. Then you realize, they did not invite the first woman to the press club until 1971. And Nikita Khrushchev made that happen. So, we have come a long way and the person who has watched that journey is Simeon Booker. Simeon booker, ladies and gentlemen, if you do not know, jet magazine would not be jet magazine without Simeon Booker and his piece. [applause] joe and his wife, carol, is right beside him and lets give her a round of applause. [applause] joe now, first of all thank you for being here. Lets get to this, you were on the committee that actually decided to invite dr. Mlk to be the speaker, to the best of your recollection, what went on in that meeting . What was it like . And carol, you can fill in, because i know you have an extensive paragraph in his autobiography about that meeting, but what you remember, simeon . Simeon [indiscernible] carol what do you remember about the decision to invite dr. King . He did remember when he wrote this book. He has asked me to joe lets see if this might jar his memory. Carol and 97, memory fades with every day. This is from shocking the conscience. Simeon wrote this in 2013, published by University Press of mississippi, ironically. He writes that he remembered the first time dr. King spoke at the club in 1962. Simeon was only the second member of the club. Joe the second africanamerican . Carol the second africanamerican. When simeon was sponsored for membership, he was urged to be an active member and he was. He joined the Speakers Committee, which was one of the most important committees because it was the committee that chose the speakers for these wonderful newsmaker luncheons, here at the club. So, he proposed that dr. King speak. Dr. King had gotten some notoriety, a lot of press because of the montgomery bus boycotts, but here never been interviewed by the National Press. Simeon thought the time had come. It was a year before the march on washington and the i have a dream speech. And it was two years before dr. King became the youngest recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. So, he still had not been named time magazines man of the year, either. Jet magazine had had dr. King on its cover at least twice, and if you know the history of jet magazine, the cover was usually a young starlet, a pretty, young woman. It was a newsmaker, taking the cover. That was rather unusual for johnson publishing. Martin luther king, jr. Had never addressed a large audience of the National Press. Also, at the same time, in 1962, maybe even earlier, the fbi, itself, will admit that J Edgar Hoover had targeted dr. King as a possible pawn of the communist movement in america. Anybody who participated in civil rights at that time was suspect by the fbi as being not only a troublemaker, but possibly a pawn of the communist movement. So, J Edgar Hoover use the press and people that he knew to send out rumors and i think it might have been that, more than any racial issue, that caused dissension on the committee. Joe to invite him to speak. Carol because the chairman of the committee resigned in protest when the committee accepted simeons recommendation to let dr. King speak. Joe the chairman of the Speakers Committee . Carol yes. This speech, itself, as it will get to later on, is a magnificent speech. And you can tell from the questions that follow debt, that the seat had been planted because there is one question about whether it had been written by Stanley Levinson, a new york lawyer who was considered by the fbi to be communist tainted. Joe maybe i can get closer with his microphone, so if you could, is there anything, simeon, that you have heard that you want to add or day carol pretty much get your thoughts there that you put down in the book . Carol can you hear joe . Yes. Carol is there anything you add to my brilliant summary . [laughter] carol are going home together tonight. Simeon keep talking. [laughter] [applause] joe i got that treatment when i first walked into his office many years ago. Keep talking. Carroll sometimes its better when im not in the room, because then he will talk. If im here, he will say, you do it. Come on, simeon, talk a bit. About what . Carol dr. King. Simeon ive almost forgotten him. Carol people ask simeon when he was on the freedom rides, how did he feel in the back of the bus when people were being beaten up and he will say, i dont remember. 50 years later, he is in the most vivid event especially when there is one event after another. Joe if you dont mind, i will tell you what i want to do, which is to go to another individual who is out in San Francisco at Stanford University. I had the pleasure of interviewing him on several occasions, he was dr. Kings advisor and lawyer and by the way, his speechwriter. It was by chance that we were discussing this program that i mentioned we would be doing this and he said, i helped write that speech. And that is dr. Clarence jones, who is at Stanford University at the Martin Luther king jr. Research and education institute. Dr. Jantz, i know you are a long way away, but can you hear me . Dr. Jones i can hear you. Joe can we give them a round of applause . [applause] we have joe we have given the background of this. How important was the speech to dr. King at the time . Dr. Jones we thought it was an important speech. First of all, let me just a for the record, this speech was fundamentally his speech, but there was a lot of discussion about it. About the material he should consider was jointly done with Stanley Levinson. The fbi was right, Stanley Levinson and i played a great role in preparing the text of the speech. I had a very a rather cynical attitude toward his planned appearance. Joe why was that . Dr. Jones in 1962, [indiscernible] involved in a Campaign Offer georgia. Public facilities. Dr. King had been in and out of georgia. Someone, i dont think he says it, but im one said to me, i dont think that there has ever negro that has ever spoken at the National Press club. And i said, well, i find that hard to believe, but i guess it is. So i called up louis martin on the Democratic National committee. Joe would you mind telling his audience who louis martin was at the time . Dr. Jones he was the highestranking black and the democratic party. I said, [indiscernible] i said, why has it taken so long to get a negro at the press club . And he said, you need to ask them. I said, that is what i am asking you. We, when i say we, certainly Martin Luther king, jr. , Stanley Levinson, the particularly dr. King, we were focused on albany, georgia. And we saw the occasion to speak at the press club. At him speaking about, not just albany, but the broader issue of race in america, because yes, he had received a lot of prominence from the montgomery bus boycotts, and by 1960 had been on the cover of time magazine, but a large majority of america, they just knew that there was a preacher [indiscernible] they didnt know what we knew, that he was probably as erudite and more erudite than the people have spoken at the National Press club. He had the moniker of being about the speech, [indiscernible] dr. King was brilliant, had a photographic memory, and was a scholar. Now, i was critical of the National Press club, and also critical of dr. King because he did not seem to respond to what i wanted him to take a much more harsher position. I wanted him to, when he spoke about being there, i wanted him to actually say as part of the speech, why has it taken so long for an african a negro to speak at the National Press club. And he said no, that is often issue. Remember, this is july of 1962. President kennedy is the president of the United States. Robert kennedy as the attorney general. And the speaker before me, let me say for the record, from july 13, 1963, until december 31st, 1967, every single telephone call, without exception, 24 7, everything will telephone call that took place between Martin Luther king, jr. , clarence jones, Stanley Levinson, every single one was wiretapped. And the conversations transcribed. First, by handwritten notes, and then they were typed, and marked topsecret. It is a little bit offtopic, but your listener should know that disrespect to the fbi, and J Edgar Hoover, any opportunity where dr. King would be celebrated person was the last thing in the world he would have wanted. He wanted to destroy his reputation. So, i have heard secondhand, in fact, i dont have it before me, but i remember reading in the transcript of the wiretapped files, his file before they started tapping the joint file in 1963, J Edgar Hoover anyway, Everybody Knows this. Joe let me ask a final question from me and then if you can expand, we only have a couple more minutes. That is ok. What was dr. Kings reaction after the speech . How did he feel the reception was . What was his thought after his historic speech . Dr. Jones i asked him, and i said, how are you received . I was not there. He said, i thought it went over very well. He said, sometimes people even some of our friends, they have difficulty when you talk about matters publicly that they are embarrassed to hear. And so, from his standpoint, he felt that the mere fact that he spoke at the press club, the mere fact that he talked about the issues, which were confronting america as a result of his experience, coming from montgomery and he mentions a couple of times, at least one time, and i remember it in his speech, because i wanted it to be mentioned more, he was in albany, georgia, and i wanted him to talk about albany being a template or microcosm of what we are trying to do in the south. He was pleased. I dont think he was i dont think he was overwhelmed in any way. I think he was just pleased. His first reaction was, they did not boo me. I said, well, lets see what happens in the press and how theyre going to try to tear you up in the press. Afterward. I do not recall yes, i do not recall him getting any negative press be back. Joe dr. Jones, thank you so much for taking the time to join us. I really appreciate the insight. Thank you very much. [applause] joe so, lets go to the audio clip, at least in part, of what dr. Jones was talking about. Dr. King mr. Chairman, distinguished guests, members of the National Press club, ladies and gentlemen, i warmly welcome the opportunity to address such a distinguished group of journalists. As has been said, i almost not make it. Just last week, i was convicted as a and the city court of albany, georgia, for participating in a peaceful march, protesting segregated conditions in that community. I decided on the basis of conscience, not to pay the fine of 170, but to serve the jail sentence of 45 days. Just as i was about to get adjusted to my new home for 45 days, reverend abernathy and i were noted by that some unknown donor had paid our fines, and that we had to leave the job. Jail. As the atlanta constitution suggested the other day, we have now reached a new landmark in race relations. We have witnessed persons being ejected from lunch counters during the sitins. And thrown into jail during the freedom rides. The first time, we witness persons being kicked out of jail. [laughter] dr. King victor hugo once said, that that is nothing more powerful and all of the world, then an idea whose time has come. Anyone sensitive to the present modes in our nation must know that the time for Racial Justice has come. The issue is not whether segregation and discrimination will be eliminated, but how they will pass from the american scene. Joe let me start with the mississippi organizer during the Civil Rights Movement and worked with the federal government on minority business development, he is president of snccs legacy board, and im always so intimidated when i get around him, because he is just a brilliant individual, just let me get your initial reaction, because i know that you prepped for this, so you must have some thoughts before you came in here, when you were invited. Just your initial reaction about this whole situation and what you just heard, what you heard from dr. Jones and also, maybe a little history about the relationship of dr. King with sncc at that time in albany. Courtland before i begin, i would just like to say that i remember working with being in the same place with Simeon Booker when Adam Clayton Powell is there and dick gregory, in 1966 or 1967 and he was a person of high regard at that point, and was important to telling the story, as we know, jet magazine, along with simeon and larry stills were very important getting the message out. What strikes me about listening to dr. King and listening to attorney jones, is that while america wants to celebrate how far it has come, and it should celebrate how far it has come, those of us who were involved in getting america to this point, face very difficult circumstances, because from attorney joness tone about being wiretapped, being talked about and thought about as a communist, being disregarded. Clearly, dr. King was a brilliant person, as we have stated here tonight. But being disregarded as someone who is making a tremendous contribution, that what strikes me about mlks Open