Focused, uncompromising, and yet essentially pragmatic, Whitney Young, executive director of the National Urban League, answers questions at this 1966 meeting of the Overseas Press Club. 

Here's a glimpse of our 7th annual Martin Luther King Day celebration!

Walter White, head of the NAACP, ponders race and foreign relations at the Great Hall of Cooper Union, in New York City, in this 1949 recording.

On August 28, 1963 Martin Luther King Jr. did what he’d done countless times before: he began building a sermon. And in his sermons King relied on improvisation, drawing on sources and references that were limited only by his imagination and memory. It’s a gift — and a tradition — on full display in the "I Have A Dream" speech, but it’s also in conflict with the intellectual property laws that have been strenuously used by his estate since his death. In a segment originally aired in 2011, OTM producer Jamie York speaks with Drew Hansen, Keith Miller, Michael Eric Dyson and Lewis Hyde about King, imagination and the consequences of limiting access to art and ideas.

Charles Mingus - Prayer for Passive Resistance (Live at Antibes)

David Halberstam briefs this 1964 meeting of the Overseas Press Club on what he sees as a "sharp conflict" between America's official optimism and the reality experienced by reporters embedded in Vietnam.

"America is being forced to face itself," James Farmer proclaims in this 1963 Overseas Press Club appearance, before discussing the upcoming march on Washington and the historical roots of the civil rights struggle.

In the early hours of February 24, 1949, on the Greek island of Rhodes, Dr. Ralph J. Bunche emerged from the Egyptian-Israeli talks to announce the signing of a General Armistice Agreement.

In this broadcast of Maincurrents, three panelists -- all men -- examine recent legislation to "liberalize" existing abortion restrictions, leading to a wide-ranging discussion of the practice, both in the United States and abroad, as well as the historical basis for restrictions.

Listen to excerpts from Sunday's event hosted by Brian Lehrer and Jami Floyd, managing editor of The Global Game, as they discuss Dr. King's battle for equal education for all.

Panelists included:

With live performances by:         

On December 17, 1964, Dr. Martin Luther King was honored by the people of New York for his unparalleled contributions to the civil rights movement in a City Hall ceremony presentation of the Medallion of Honor.

It's the 150th anniversary of The Civil War and the effects are still with us. Celeste Headlee reflects on her family's role in the Civil War; the branches of her family tree include both slaves and owners. The Civil War is over, but the fight continues; we still argue over whether to fly the Confederate flag and how to teach the history of the war.

Artist Keith Plessy, President of the Plessy & Ferguson Foundation, and Phoebe Ferguson, photographer, documentary filmmaker, and co-founder of the Foundation, discuss their friendship and the idea of "separate but equal" in today's society. Plessy is a descendant of Homer Plessy, and Ferguson is the great-granddaughter of Judge John Ferguson, author of the decision upholding segregation that was affirmed by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1896 in Plessy v. Ferguson.

It's the 150th anniversary of The Civil War and the effects are still with us. Celeste Headlee reflects on her family's role in the Civil War; the branches of her family tree include both slaves and owners. The Civil War is over, but the fight continues; we still argue over whether to fly the Confederate flag and how to teach the history of the war.

Manning Marable, a pioneering scholar and author of a highly anticipated biography of Malcolm X, died Friday. He was due to speak with us about his new book, out today. Joining us to discuss Marable’s accomplishments and his final work are Michael Eric Dyson, Professor of Sociology at Georgetown University, and Melissa Harris-Perry, Associate Professor of Politics and African-American studies at Princeton University. Marable considered "Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention" book his life's work. It is the definitive account of Malcolm X drawn from primary sources, explains Michael Eric Dyson.

While the image of union workers is one of white men in hard hats, the reality is that African-Americans and other minorities may be hit hardest if the unions fall. Studies show that 14.5 percent of all public sector workers in the nation are black and one in five black workers are employed in public administration. Teachers, police and firefighters are not the only professionals affected in the battle raging in Wisconsin between union workers and the Republican-led state government, either. If the law passes, service employees like janitors, garbage collectors, and home health care workers will not only lose their ability to collectively bargain for wages and benefits, but their right to a union altogether.

Immediately after the end of the Civil War, Congress drafted and pushed to ratify the 14th and 15th amendments to the Constitution, which were intended to guarantee African-Americans full equality under the law. But despite these amendments, Jim Crow laws quickly took hold of much of the nation, stripping African-Americans of such basic rights as serving on juries and voting without the penalty of a poll tax. What went wrong?

Kenji Yoshino, Chief Justice Earl Warren Professor of Constitutional Law at NYU School of Law and author of Covering: The Hidden Assault on Our Civil Rights, reacts to the DOJ's decision to stop defending the Defense Of Marriage Act. 

→ Read a Recap and Join the Conversation at It's a Free Country!