Black America Since MLK: And Still I Rise

(upbeat music) Imagine if Martin Luther King woke up and he asks you, "What's happening since I've been gone?" What would you say? That is the concedent of the series. The last 50 years of African-American history. For the black community since 1968 it's the best of times and it's the worst of times. A huge segment of the black community has risen. Black folks are more a part of society, like literally are coming out of the shadows. It's a novel kind of development in black American, it looks as if a certain gate has opened and there's a wider number of us who are now operating in arenas where we had not previously been admitted. Keep hope alive! (cheering) But on the other hand, the percentage of black children living at or beneath the poverty line is basically the same as it was the day Martin Luther King died. We all know about the political uproar, the feuer that's raging in many parts of the country over inner-city violence, over police relationships. I want white America and black America to listen to black people talking to each other about what their lives mean and what these events signify. I want Americans to realize that we've come a long way, but we still have a long way to go. (upbeat music)