>> i imagine that king is really rolling over in his grave. that we are still grappling with those things bob talked about and racism being kind of like the one that has now been kind

and the trump presidency helped to do that. to bring that realization to the awareness of the broader american society. some of us felt, and i shouldn't say some of us, but some of us felt that, you know, racism wasn't really as much an issue today as it was in the '60s and before. and i wager, and king would really probably stand with me in saying that racism is as much if not more of an issue for american society than it has ever been in this country. >> bob, would you agree with that? >> i don't know, it's tough. people often talk about the fact that trump is unprecedented in the level of disgust in a president. we need to remember our first president had

runs deep. to put it more now, more then, i don't know how much that necessarily advances the ball when it's continued to be a problem. i think if king had one message it would be, do not get tired, do not despair, keep fighting. to think how tired i as a white man get tired working on those issues. to think what king did, what obama did, these men continue to wake up every morning, continue to fight what they believed in. it's a remarkable lesson. i think we need to challenge ourselves to continue to get out and continue to do more and continue to fight racism as long as it's still there. to schedule me if it's morse, it's a hard question given our absolutely disgusting and abysmal legacy on racism in this country. >> whether it is more or less, i think dr. king would agree that we have more tools with which to work today. we should be able to do a better job. we have more people

willing to working of all races and nationalities, it's no longer black and white. we can unite and do even more than dr. king was able to do. dr. king set a great tone for us and left souse much to work with in terms of love and peace and justice and connected it not just with black and white but also with our brothers and our sisters in other parts of the world. i think they're owl there, they're standing to see what we're going to do here to help resolve our challenges and bring them in to help to do the same. in the united states and in their countries. >> how do you think dr. king would speak to issues, like the pervasive crime problem we see roiling cities in our countries, cities like chicago, like baltimore, maryland? or the gap in wealth between the rich and the poor? how do you think king would have approached those kinds of issues today? >> bob's looking at me. >> i

response from me. so i was sitting thinking how to advance some of what has happened with technology and our ability to see more of what's happening. i think that dr. king would be really upset about the way law enforcement treats people of color. i think that he would speak out against that in terms of the craft -- when we have the situation that we have, that we had, where a large percentage of the wealth in the country is opened by so few of us that we have a problem that breeds poverty. and poverty drives criminality. and so too often, our officials owe

of, crime is a effecproblem. that's the effect, not the affect. we've got to get to the point we address the effects that causes people to go out and steal, so we can address that. i think king would be great in that. i had an opportunity to read about it. so often we talk about the dream. we don't look inside and really talk about the thought capacity of the man. >> bob, i want to get you to weigh in on that but i have to take a break first, then we'll get to bob.

welcome back. bob, how do you think dr. king would address the issue of policing, the cry for reform in

>> i think he would align closely with the black lives matter movement and the movement for black policy platform. dr. king talked about the intersection between education, health, shelter, jobs, talked about what it meant to live a dignified life and what happened when people took away that dignity from others, did not allow and secure those basic human rights for others. the man was a champion of human rights as well as civil rights which he's better known for. he would talk about not only the dream of what he hoped to do, he would talk about the nightmare of the conditions so many people are living in today. i think king would have been much farther ahead than both our major political parties who have not vocalized their support for the movement for black lives. i think king would have been a champion we could greatly use. the movement needs more leaders, continuous leaders, sustainable actions that take people to the streets, continue to be seen, continue to be heard, continue to shake and awaken and make people uncomfortable with those

comfortable, they're not going to change conditions around them. and i think king before been out on the streets calling for this, making people uncomfortable, being a champion for the movement writ large. >> i think dr. king would defer back to the reason for which the southern leadership conference was organized, to save the soul of america. when he made that speech, a time -- about the speech on time to change, it's time to break the silence, and we have to speak out, i think we'd be encouraging more to speak out about what was wrong and he would connect what he was trying to say about the vietnam war to the violence in our communities today. if america was one of the biggest purveyors of violence what do we expect our young people to know? they know about violence. if they don't have jobs, then what are they supposed to do on the street? how are they

goes around comes around. it should motivate more of us to want to do the right thing, want to do the things that dr. king worked for and want to bring his legacy back and be more positive. talk about it. we have to -- i want everybody to read that speech. time to break the silence. when you read that speech, there is no way that you can blame those young people in communities about their violence because they got it from the adults. >> stewart, what does dr. king's dream and what does this holiday mean to young people today? young african-americans? >> and so there is a separation between the awareness of our young folk and the ideas of dr. king. and so that's the purpose of the chief cause for which we come together to lift up dr. king's e

on as much knowledge about what he represented, what he stood for, and how they should want to emulate his actions. so that's the purpose for the peace walk and the parade is to try to instill some of dr. king in our young people. but really, there is this disconnect. you talk to our young -- because it's not taught in schools. civics is not taught in schools. dr. king would have had a problem with the fact that we're not teaching civic duty, responsibilities, and helping our fellow citizens. that's one of the things that throughout a few of kings' speeches. >> bob, what do you think the importance of dr. king's dream is to young white millennials? >> i think it's important for young white

black experience in this country through dr. king's speech. for somebody that continues to have a message that spoke to the great inequalities, that we need to be hyperconscious to it. i don't just want to stop on the "i have a dream" speech because that's often said to myself. i didn't know dr. king, how many times he'd about been arrested. i didn't know his radical messages. i didn't know he erred on the side of socialism than the destructive capitalism we have in the country. i don't want to get caught up in that one speech because that's often what was fed to us. i think of malcolm x, another great leader i was not taught about whatsoever as a young white person in the midwest. i think it's important white millennials hear the message but they're also challenged to the depths of what dr. king was saying. there's so many other speeches. the speech at the riverfront church a year before his assassinatioal

militarism, talked about how much of our resources are wasted abroad. i think white millennials need to see not only the i have a dream speech but the entire career of what he was saying. the sanitation workers movement that he had started which we'll celebrate at this year's parade is extremely important to look at the fight for 15 right now. the fight for minimum wage increasing. all of the other conversations that king was starting to spur outside of just racial equality, but just human dignity across the board. >> we'll be right back.

so dr. williams, you are one of the grand marshals of the parade this year. tell us about what that means, how you got chosen, and what's going to be happening. >> well, obviously i'm very pleased. it's a signal honor to be asked to be a grand marshal. i guess i'm getting popular. because i'm going to be a grand

marshal in cleveland also for theirs, which is not until april, however. but it's very meaningful. i'm rarely in town to be able to participate in the good things hike this. i'm usually away talking with other people. so this gives me an opportunity to be here, to work with the people in my community, my neighborhood, my town. so i'm very happy about that. now, in terms of dr. king and what makes the day great is that i believe he would be pleased with the fact that we've moved to service rather than a celebratory date. even the president, the current president and his family, have gone to places to provide service for our community. and that is what dr. king had in mind all of his life. so we've really gone back to what he wanted us to do, is to serve our communities, to kind of bridge the gap between people and among people, and do the things that we can do to improve our own community. sometimes we talk about other people ought to do things. this is a day we can do thing in our own community.

greatness is based upon our service. >> stewart, tell us about the parade. >> okay, so first there's a peace walk. and so for those who want to join, come out to the peace walk, the peace walk will assemble at 2500 martin luther king jr. avenue southeast, washington, d.c. that's right next door to the historic location, the united black front. and incidentally, it was the founder of united black front or one of the founders who actually was a part of the initial celebration of the life and legacy of dr. king. >> calvin rowlart. >> they started this about 36 years ago, celebrating the life and legacy of king. we tried to stay connected to that location for the historical relevance of that place. and at the peace walk, it's an opportunity for grassroots or

what the life and legacy of dr. king is about and to be engaged in service activities as miss williams has just spoke about. the peace walk will start at 10:00 p.m. we'll step off at 10:00 p.m. -- >> p.m. or a.m.? >> 10:00 a.m., excuse me. first thing in the morning. i'll be working throughout then. but we'll step off at 10:00 a.m. and we will march from the peace walkers from the united black front to the rise center where we will be principally, bob and myself, arranging, setting up the parade. once they arrive there, we will again start the parade, we will carry the parade down at 12:00. >> 12:00 p.m. start from the rise center, over 75 groups are going to participate in the amazing march that will head from the ride center. up to 100 w

anacostia. a new parade route which is extremely important to go through that remarkable neighborhood with such a history here in washington, d.c. >> you'll allow me to speak, i'll be able to talk about all these things i've been talking about in other cities. i'll talk about the women in the movement. >> dr. williams, bob stewart, i'm sorry, i wish we had another half hour, we've got to go. thank you for joining us and sharing details with us. thanks for being with us. "news 4 today" is next.

this was the largest audience to ever witness an inauguration, period. both in person and around the globe. >> right now on "news 4 today," seeking the truth. one version from president trump and a dispute whether video tells a different story about crowds at the inauguration. spreading a message from d.c. to around the globe, millions are calling on donald trump to hear their concerns. first comes the fog, then it's the rain. storm team 4 tracking showers and how you can plan for downpours head our way today. changeable forecast. it's been a little busy around