Transcripts For CSPAN Memorial Service For Marion Barry 20141206

Time as mayor. He represented the eighth ward until the time of his death. Is Memorial Service scheduled to get underway at 11 00 this morning eastern time. We understand that it is running a bit behind schedule. Thel then, discussion on job numbers from washington journal. We are joined by the wall street journal economics reporter. , you talked about the data points beyond the topline numbers. The key one was wage growth. Lets start with that. Guest there was a lot of attention to the headline , 321,000n the report new jobs created. The most significant number in the report is nine. Muchcents, thats how earnings went up. It is twice the average the we have seen per month over the last year. On au look at it yearoveryear basis, it is not as impressive. Increase. Om a 2. 1 economists have been watching for any sign that wages are going to pick up. They have been so slow to grow over this recovery. We have different measures that show that they may be picking up. This is the first time we have in this wage data from the Labor Department that earnings may be finally starting to pick up. Makeat do you look for to sure that this is not just a one month aberration. Guest it could be. One month does not make a trend. We will look to see if it is sustained and grow. There are other indexes. It measures employment crossed from the employer side. It looks at wages and benefits. 8. 5 has been growing at rate for the last two quarters. That is not huge. Its not some blockbuster number. It is a sign that things are starting to pick up. Another number thats below those top lines as labor force protest the patient rate. That concerns a lot of people in recent months. What do we know about that . Labor force participation since theest levels late 1970s. There is a long decline that again before the recession. It began at the end of the 1990s. It really accelerated during the recession. It is up a little bit from the very lowest level that we have been at. It was study in november. Study in november. Study in november. Steady in november. We are still waiting to see if a stronger labor market and more people getting hired will draw people off the sidelines, he will hood given up hope of finding a job. Host for people who are more visual learners, this is a chart. It is near a 36 year low. It is getting up above 67 percent in 1998. Here it is today. Er numbers between white besides the topline numbers . Guest one of them is the use six, a broader version of the Unemployment Rate. Some people that criticize the standard Unemployment Rate. It doesnt count a lot of people. It is not the sole answer. We also look at the use six. U6 it counts people who were marginally attached to the job market. That rate is 11. 4 . It is down a little bit from october. Its down a lot from a year ago. It has been going down as the Unemployment Rate has been going down. There is still a lot of pain out there. It is getting better. The economy is getting better. If our collars want to talk for the next 45 minutes or so, our phone lines open for questions and explain what an involuntary parttime worker is great guest this is one of those delightful Labor Department terms is. Its also called heart time for economic reasons. Cut when your hours of been or you are looking for a fulltime jobs but job but you cant find one. What you are doing is not by choice. A lot of People Choose to work parttime and they have other things going on. If you are doing it because you cant find fulltime work, you are involuntary parttime and that number is well above prerecession levels. Its been coming down, but its still very high. We are talking to the wall street journal. Henry is waiting in michigan. Caller good morning. Numbers andat these i am wondering in my own mind just how much better these numbers would be, how much better the country and the middle class would feel had the republican governors in 39 states accepted the stimulus package money in 2009 when the president came in, had helped the president by accepting eral funding to help the temperament the aca in their states. The republicans have blocked everything that this president has tried to do. They have turned this country against brother against brother. Its disgraceful. Its treason. Think they have stolen the selection as far as immigration is concerned, its ridiculous. We didnt have an Immigration Department when you came into this country. You took this country from those hispanics that you want to kick out. Host lets stick to the job numbers. The caller brings up the Affordable Care act. Would this help us from breaking those numbers by industry . This shows the net change in jobs since january 2009. This line that seems to be going up steadily is jobs in the Health Care Industry. The Health Care Industry has been adding jobs steadily. Health care has been one that is growing steadily. How much of that is due to the expansion of Health Insurance and how much of it is just growth as theural population ages and needs more medical expenses, im not sure. I did talk to an employer in California Well preparing for theyobs reported he said are opening new locations because california ex ended its medicaid program. And nowple are covered can get physical therapy. He is seen an increase in demand because of that. And he has been waiting in massachusetts on the line for republicans. Caller good morning. I dont think much of statistics. Unemployment is a fiasco. Its the Government Spending that is the problem. They want to spend more . Its a ponzi scheme. Nobody wants to buy our junk bonds anymore. Just printing money and buying bonds. That is upon the scheme. Host the Federal Reserve on buying effort ended in october. This is the first jobs report without that effort happening. Didnt have any impact on the jobs report . Guest i doubt it. Its a short timeframe to see that kind of impact it the Federal Reserve has bought a lot of bonds over the last six years. There were three rounds of bond buying. The fed says that was to stimulate the economy. That was to support the economy through this slow recovery and make borrowing cheaper. Other people have debated the actual effects of the program. Its over now. His is a testament the economy does not need as much support as it did when they start of the program. Are looking to next year to start to raise rates. They have kept rates tend near zero cents 2008. Cents 2008. Since 2008. It is a testament that the economy will be stronger when they start to raise rates. It will be a good moment for the United States. The u. S. Will be Strong Enough that it doesnt need this kind of stimulus. Host what would keep the fed from doing that . What would force them to pull back from that . We had a worsening was situation, if inflation below the 2 target, i think they would be concerned. There are concerns about growth overseas. We are seeing weakness in japan and europe and a slowdown in china. Are turbulence that come into the u. S. Economy from overseas, that could affect their cut relations as well. A lot of people are looking at the middle of next year for the first rate hike. That is up to the fed. They said they are going to be looking at every piece of data coming in. Host new jersey is next. Good morning. Do they take into account Seasonal Hiring this time of year . Also, with employers cutting hours down to 29 because of the aca, does that create more jobs at a 29 hour a week rate . The first one, the jobs report does have seasonal adjustments. The government knows there are usually more hiring ahead of the Holiday Season in retail and transportation. They try to adjust for that. They are not always perfect. That is something that they try to be corrected in seasonal numbers. On the question of hours being cut, we saw a small uptick in the average hourly work week this month. 1 . 1 10 of it is an increase in that is good. Paychecks are going to be heftier because people are working more hours. In terms of parttime jobs as a result of the aca, i dont know if anybody has a definitive answer on the effects of that. Recovery, the monthtomonth numbers can be volatile. Overall, almost all of the jobs created during this recovery have been fulltime jobs. There have been parttime jobs created, but many more fulltime jobs. That is good for people that will fulltime job instead of parttime. There is a question on twitter. Everybody wants to take the credit when its good and everybody was to deflect lame when its bad. The white house put out statements yesterday and the present like to take credit for this. Its a good jobs report. This is the 50th consecutive month of positive job growth. This is the longest expansion of job creation since world war ii. Republicans will say that things would be better if it werent for the president s policies. Can blame orif i credit. Host members of congress are trying to do that. Joe biden sent out a tweet yesterday. You can see the chart their that he helpfully provided along with his tweet. Mitch mcconnells press office sent out it tweet. Coal is taking a hit in recent months and years. Lets go to kevin in marshall, texas. Good morning. Caller quickly, you are doing a great job moderating. It seems like every point you bring up, i was wondering about that. Host what is your question . Caller when you talk about giving it credit, something you the credit goes to the businessman. We have had a tough economic shock. For them to regroup, it took them a while to regroup and figure out how to make money again. I think the credit goes to them. I am happy for the American Workers and thankful for businessmen and companies doing this. Thing, i think the thernment has control over participation rate. I think the government can create an underclass or you have more people working unless peopleproviding and more taking from the system when you have less people working. That is kind of what i am seeing going on right now. Is that what you are seeing . Packagets tough to one what is affecting their participation rate. We know that there are people out there who want to work but are not in the labor force. Theyve been discouraged and were laid off a long time ago. The benefits ran out and they could not find a job. They dropped out of the labor force. There are structural issues that are driving down this rate. Its been declining since well before this last recession. There was a Great Movement into the labor force over the last several decades of women. There were the baby boomers. Now baby boomers are retiring. That is going to mean that there are fewer people in the workforce. More people are retired. It is tough to one package how much of it is structural. Some of it might be cyclical. It might be related to a weak economy and policy. There is a lot of debate on that. At least part of this decline is because of the recession and there are hopes that the rate will go up. York. Lets head up to new caller good morning. Participation, i have heard many times that this 10,000 a day going on social security, that would be 300,000 a month. What are the facts on that question mark i will hang up and listen. Guest i dont know the exact numbers on that. There is a lot of churn in the labor force from month to month. There are people who live there or people whojobs retire. There are people who enter the labor force because they are graduating from high school or college or getting out of Training Programs or they have decided to go back to work. We will get a better sense of this in a couple of months. Which is theport job opening loss turnover survey. This lets us know how many people were looking for work or lost their jobs. The helps us understand flows of workers in and out of the workforce. It is released on a onemonth delay. We will get the october numbers next week. That will help us understand what is going on. A lot of economists look very closely at that report. Up, it is good. The quit rate in september hit the highest level in a long time. Up,hat rate continues to go it will be seen as a positive sign for the recovery. Host pennsylvania is next. Good morning. Caller good morning. Hello . Host you are on. Turned on your tv and go ahead. Caller good morning. Restorer. Car parts are foreignmade and 90 of the brands are foreignmade. Tvs, refrigerators, when you go to foreign home depot, everything is foreignmade. People will be buying christmas isms and almost everything i foreignmade. Have to have a congress they have dropped the ball and its not their fault. The real fault lies in the fact. Hat the twoyear term you need 3 million to get reelected every two years. You give into the corporate lobbyists to Campaign Finance your campaign. That be good for members of the house us to mark just the house of representatives. They have to make good decisions for america. If you dont do that, we will never turn the corner. The second thing that we need to a manufacturing rally program across america to put manufacturing back on u. S. Soil. Host lets talk about the manufacturing sector. Guest its been hurting. There was a huge decline during the recession. It is a long way from normal. Its a long way from getting back. Up inment has been going the manufacturing sector. There were 28,000 jobs in manufacturing and the auto manufacturers have been doing well. Car sales are at very high levels. These are levels that they did not expect to be at in 2008 or 2009. I was working in detroit and it was a grim time. Now people do see sales rebounding. That is good for that manufacturing. Part of this is a trade story. We are seeing some interesting thing happened in trade right now. Thatollar is stronger and makes our exports are more expensive. That could lead to us importing more foreign goods. We will see have a stronger dollar will affect the manufacturing sector. Host you talk about global currencies, president obama talked about how leaders a mother countries view the United States economy. Leadersated that world can be more optimistic than american citizens about the economy. This is a bit of what he had to say from wednesday. Wast the g 20, what striking was the optimism that the world felt about the american economy. This is greater in some ways than how americans feel about the american economy. I think what you saw among World Leaders was consistent with what we know from global surveys witches when you ask people now where is in one place to invest, its the United States of america. It was china for quite some time. Now people want to put money back into this country. 11 has to do with the fact that we have the best workers of the world and the best University System and innovation in the world. Weve got the best businesses in the world. Greatof you can take credit for the kind of bounce back and we have seen over the last six years. Host we want to hear from our viewers this morning. Weve got about 15 minutes left with the economics reporter from the wall street journal. We will go to pasadena, texas area good morning. Caller yes sir. I am watching and trying to keep my television down. Think ising at what i a number that is an exaggerated for unemployment. There are so many young people in so many and so many people who are here illegally who are wayployed and are in a bad and i feel for them. I would like to know what your stance on whats going on with those and why they are not credited in the and employment number . Tracking undocumented immigrants, how are so the projections and numbers determined for Unemployment Rates in those sectors westmark guest the jobs report is to surveys. Its a Payroll Survey where we , butusinesses questions the second is a Household Survey. That is a survey of people in households. Thats why the numbers can diverge from month to month. The survey doesnt ask about legal status in the country. We dont have a separate rate. People who are in this country illegally would be counted in both surveys. Ethnicity, race or the Household Survey does break down those Unemployment Rates by race. Unemployment rate for whites is much lower. Those numbers have been declining. Its a very large race gap in those numbers. They also break it down by age. The youth Unemployment Rate is high. Its usually higher than the the standard Unemployment Rate. It does remain high. Those are all things that you look at and say the Unemployment Rate, thats not true for everyone in the United States. Host the unemployment demographics breakdown in november among whites. Lets go to new jersey. Caller good morning. Ive got a few questions. I could have a 60 inch flatscreen tv. I could take them and put them in a cargo container and ship them back to america. I could sell them for 500. In america, the average person earns more money and would cost us 400 a tv. Where would we sell it if we made it . Now that opec is popping up as much oil as they can to push our , doesnt that push the value of the dollar down as well . Since the oil is so low, should we take some money and put it back into our treasury . Host lets focus on the oil prices question. Guest oil prices are down. I think this began in june and its significant area global prices are down 30 . That is good and bad. The bad news is we have been producing all this oil and gas this Domestic Energy broom boom through fracking. In some cases, the method of extracting the oil is expensive. The price can drop below the point that its profitable to sell that oil. Most economists agree that for Lower Oil Prices are good for the United States. Consumers will have lower energy costs. The price of gas has been coming down. Dollars for the First Time Since the end of 2010. People are getting a boost. They are spending less money on gasoline have more money to savor spend on other items. I think a lot of retailers are looking for this to give them a boost, even if wages have not been going up very fast. People are getting a raise to lower gas rices. Oil futures closed at 65. 85. This is another few percent on the week. You bring up retailers are in black friday numbers were out last week. Consumers shopped. That was down from last year. Total spending was also down. Had you think that has impacted seasonal employment question mark host the retail numbers were strong in this last jobs report. Havew a lot of people questions about the black friday numbers and how much they signify for the shopping season as a whole . They dont have a great track record of predicting all of november and december. We would get november retail numbers next week. That will give us an early had up on those. Black friday shopping was down. Washington journal is live every day. We will take you to the Convention Center and a Memorial Service for the late marion barry just getting underway. Sing a song today. Let us sing a song today. Us. Life has brought where are long journey has begun. Let us rejoice until victory is won. We pray for your blessings on every word that is uttered in scripture that is red. Every song that is song. To god be the glory. To god be the glory. For the good things that he is done. For the great things that marion barry did. All the people said amen. Amen. Put your hands together one more time. You may be seated. Which remain standing. There are so money constituent groups that marion barry introduced or initiated in this city or to whom he was a great advocate and supporter. That procession begins at this time. And 100 pastor clergy representing up the religious community that he connected with so greatly. But your hands together for the religious community as they present. [applause] led. Are being clap really good they will hurry up. Here they come. Ladies and gentlemen, these men marion barrygod, visited more churches, sometimes one or six religious houses one day. He loved the people of god. We have all faiths and all denominations. Put your hands together. Marion barry had a great regard and concern for our senior citizens. He had a commission on aging. Would all the procession please come. We cant have a half hour procession. Lets move. Come quickly. Walk like you got a fire behind you. Its veryunderstand difficult to do a Short Service for a tall man. Weve got to try to do it today. We have to be in the cemetery before it gets dark. Weve got some spooky people in this congregation. Weve got to move it. Reverend jackson has a 5 00 flight. Today,ll these people up they know what their time is. If you see me raise my right hand, i want here everybody in the congregation say make a landing. You may be seated at this time. It might be 3 00 before they all get in here. Good morning. Morning, d. C. Somebody say how will you. Somebody say praise the lord. These are the words of marion barry which preceded every speech that he gave over the past 20 years. By singing the song of that you heard the choir sang mineent ago, victory is and then i dont feel no ways tired. Marion berry was an icon. He was the consummate politician. He was an elder statesman. Fighter for the down prodded down trodden. Remember just a few months ago sen the godfather chuck Brown Service took place in this building. All of a sudden, there was a roar and it got louder and louder as people began to cheer. It was marion barry entering the hall. [applause] he was leaning on others to support him as he walked with a faltering gate, determined to make the most of every last breath. Lastmember our conversation. He called me and said i am going to help her win this election it. Lets get together and talk about some housing for our people. [applause] to his wife, his son, to other family members and his larger family, the residents of the District Of Columbia, [applause] we can all find great comfort today in the writings of the apostle paul. This reminds us of the life of our dear brother, marion barry. The time of my departure has,. I have fought the good fight and i have kept the faith. A man whoembodies knew how to run a good and long race. In his personal life and in his political life as mayor not just for 16 years, but mayor for life. [applause] it reflects a man who knew how to keep the faith when he was castigated and vilified all over the world. Like mayae to say angelou, still i rise. Mountainclimbed high to reach extraordinary heights. This great leader fought until the very end of his life. He was busy doing the peoples business, delivering hope. In his sixth decade as a voice for the people in our nations life is Marion Barrys a life that immeasurably improved the lives of washingtonians. Thats a clap right there. [applause] our member the day that marion barry was arrested. I was watching the 6 00 news. The spirit spoke to me as i said ministers, something is going to happen to marion barry today. I must reach him. I called and i called and i could not reach him. I watched the 11 00 news unfold. At the vistaest hotel. Lives areood that our marked by sin as well as virtue. Failures as well as success. Weakness as well as strength. We know that there are things that he did that he came to regret. , he recognized that there were things that had happened to him that he said he identified with the fallen, whoever they may be. In lifey at some point is going to get knocked down. I dont care who you are or how rich you are or how poor you are. Drugs may pull you down. Family. Death and your fall down, fall down on your back then you can look up. If you can look up, you can get up. If you can at up, you can go up. [applause] he was on his back, but he looked up. He got up. He came back because god had his hand on Marion Barrys life. [applause] after we had organized a caravan of seven to go up topeople the penitentiary in pennsylvania and when we came back, the streets were lined with citizens of the district who recognized all the great things that he a done for the people. Later asr a few weeks union temple held its festival with thousands of people walking barry sat onmarion the steps of union temple is thousands of people walked past. Forlorn and sad and abandoned. Being upset with him one time. I was like jesus when he went in the temple and through all the money changers out. Most of all when the late renowned reverend tom marion on a car ride through all of washington belong as and, you elected official and your work is not over. You need to get back to what god designed and called you to do. [applause] i remember when i called some of the people who marion had made dontnd said to them, why you put together a package so this man can enjoy his life. He never stole anything but gave to the people. [applause] said i cant do it. Ok, we are coming back and were going to win again. [applause] i said last night that there are some people who have seen the list. They can tell you who is going to heaven and whos not. I dont know where they got it from a, but theyve seen the list. You know what im talking about. Selfrighteous religious robots who revel in their religiosity. They parade their impossibly trying to impress by how holy they are. With the bibled as big as a piece of samsonite luggage. Its not but youve got on you its what youve got in you. Marion barry had in him the spirit of god. As we move forward, we are going little, a little, cry a were going to let our hearts side a little. We are here to celebrate a great man. He did great things. To stand in your feet and give marion barry arousing hand of applause. [applause] [applause] thank you. You may be seated. All of you know that marion barry was too large to have one pastor. He had a whole lot of pastors. He would say that he needed every one of them. We acknowledge all of these great men and women of god who are here today. He went to everyone of their churches many times. Give all of these wonderful clergy a good god bless you. We have clergy here representing. There representing the jewish faith, the Christian Faith both protestant and catholic. We have one from the hindu faith. They will come and share and the muslim faith in the person of. Please receive them with a hearty applause at this time. [applause] but us pause in place ourselves in the presence of our loving god. All during this past week, people from all across our community and our nation have gathered to celebrate the life of marion barry. A largerthanlife figure. He devoted his energy to public service, lifting up the lives of all the underprivileged and helping to make a better District Of Columbia and foster that unity and peace that are signs of the kingdom of god among us. Struggle, time of his he remarked i used to say, god i cannot handle this, will you allow your healing spirit to come into my life . He said things worked out when he did so. It is through our wonderful god who makes things work out, the god who is rich in mercy and his lifegiving spirit to whom we now appeal. My brothers and sisters, we come together in prayer, we renew our trust in the mercy of christ who by dying on the cross has freed us from eternal death and by rising has opened for us the gates of heaven. Compassion,for that kindness, unity and peace, but realize in manifest that the kingdom, a kingdom that marion barry now approaches. Andod, through mercy forgiveness, hear our prayers on behalf of our mayor for life, whom you have called on from this world and because we place our trust in you as he did, command that he be carried now safely home to heaven. He makes this final journey to your kingdom, lord, lead him, guide him along the way. Ay our prayers come before you lord, bring marion barry your servant to eternal joy. You created him in your image, you made him an adopted son. In your mercy now, welcome him to a place in your kingdom, a kingdom where there will be, as we hope someday to experience peace, our community, compassion, kindness,. Nderstanding, love in all of this we pray, through jesus christ our lord in the unity of the holy spirit, amen. [applause] guest in a time when we have a whole lot of Public Servant to believe they are public celebrities, marion barry understood that his Guiding Force was not rules of order, but the holy bible. He took as his favorite passage from the understudy of our lord and savior, jesus, the gospel of matthew peered for i was hungry and you gave me something to eat. I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink. I was a stranger and you visited me. I needed clothes and you close me, i was sick and you look after me, i was in prison and you came to visit me. The righteous lord a set window we see you hungry and feed you, when did we see you thirsty, when do we see way stranger and bring you in . When do we see you sick or in prison or go to visit you . The king will reply, i tell you the truth, whatever you did for these, brother of mine, you do for me. Cursed. Rom me, you are i was hungry, i was a stranger and you did not make me an. Noteded clothes and you did close me, i was sick and in prison and you did not look after me. Answer, lord, when do we see you hungry or thirsty or stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison and did not help you . He will reply, i will tell you , what are you going to do about Michael Brown . What are you going to do about eric garner . U do about au tel 12yearold shot like a dog . Whatever you do for the least of me, you do like marion barry. [applause] let us pray. O infinite artist who finds chaos and create harmony, who , who tears and creates joy discovers sin and creates holiness, forgive us of our foolish ways. We allownd of plenty, improper children and seniors to eat from the crumbs of the mas ters table. Forgive us. In the land that proclaims justice for all, funds flow easily and freely for military actions overseas, but are frozen ofpreserve the ice compassion left, injustice, which freezes the building of Affordable Housing and educational Employment Training opportunities for the poor and those were left behind. Forgive us for not transforming the low income communities in our inner cities of america into a healthy and happy city. Creation, artist of divest us of our ugliness, adorn us with this beauty of world , drain from the circulatory systems of our motion, the venom of hate. Establish the work of thy hand upon us in the spirit of unity. Made the possibilities of this hour and the high purpose of this gathering as we pause to celebrate your servant, marion barry junior. Let us become the rich colors in the canvas of time for this lustrous portrait of a beautiful world. We pray this prayer in the name of love, mercy and grace and the prince of peace, our lord and savior jesus christ. And the people said, amen. Amen. [applause] so that we can properly and is going to do a scripture reading. Imam and a representative of the hindu faith. The reverend will make his way to give us the final prayer representing the jewish community. Thank you. Psalm 27, and exuberant declaration of faith. The lord is my life and my salvation. Whom shall i fear . The lord is the strength of my life of whom shall i be afraid . When the wicked came against me to eat up my flesh, my enemies and foes stumbled and fell. Though an army may attempt against me, my heart will not fear. , inwar main rise against me this i will be confident. One thing have i desired of the lord. That will i seek that i might dwell in the house of the lord all the days of my life. Lordhold the beauty of the and to inquire in his temple. For in the time of trouble, he shall hide me in his billion, in the secret place of his tabernacle, he shall hide me and set me high upon a rock and my head shall be lifted up above my enemies all around me. Therefore, i will offer sacrifices of joy in his tabernacle. Praise to the lord. The word of the lord for the people of god. Thanks be to god. [applause] with gods name, the merciful benefactor, the merciful redeemer. Let us continue in prayer. Almighty god, the merciful, the wise, the most high vessel of greatness, the same god for all all andho created us cares about us all equally, we stand and seek your Divine Providence upon all gathered here to celebrate the life and legacy of your servant and a servant of the people, the beloved civil rights activist and mayor for life, marion barry junior, who is driven by the determination and spirit to change things for the better, to end economic and social lost, then for the , facilitatingeast the establishment of a generation of African American businesses and driving middleclass. Through marion barry, like many others, god, you revealed the champion that we all have in of an, the dynamic souls people oppressed and struggling to see their humanity free. We thank you for working on him in shaping him to be one who of hiss with the life people, one who took serious the responsibility to work for the betterment of a district, who took ownership and pride, investing in the residence, training them and employing them so that their time and talent would be used to help strengthen and build a city in which every resident was welcome to participate and compete with the best of its populace to make a model for the nation. Inwent the distance advancing his vision to enhance the critical circumstances affecting the future of the African American community and the public at large. As one of our reports will leaders best resource for ful leaders, he looked up lifted up the people to respect themselves and those people become not only a healthy, powerful resource to themselves, but also to the city and nation where they claim citizenship. May you forgive him his shortcomings. Widen his place of rest, give him comfort, and honor his arrival. May you bless the barry family and give them more strength, patients and love for each other. Strengthen them in their commitments to you and to the life and legacy of our beloved marion barry. Amen. [applause] made the divine in myself bow to the divine in each of you. Ill recite a prayer language]foreign the divine is infinite and all infinite. When the independence leaves, only the infinites remains. All of our souls are from the infinite spirit and may we not mourn the loss of life from marion barry, but celebrated as he has traveled to a higher realm. [applause] this song simply says that i will lift my hands in total praise to you. Lift your hands. We give god a total praise. Hallelujah. Eyes to i will lift my be healed. Self lift my hymn]ng [applause] praise to you. [applause] as i mentioned earlier, one of the great attributes was his ability to unify people of all faith, creeds, nationalities in this city. Reverend clark logan stein to offer up a prayer at this time. [applause] , we give youod great thanks for the life of marion barry. And for those who followed him as mayor of this city. We ask your special blessings on in a nation torn ,part by racial insensitivity thatnation otherwise great these, we ask your special blessings on us as we move forward to implement his , aion of jobs, justice that welcomes all people, not only to vote for its president , to control its budget and for all of us as we continue to live out the dream that he set out before us, in all things we ask your blessings, amen. [applause] there are so many here today that if we started recognizing individuals, we would be here all day. Recognize corey and christopher, we thank you for your kindness and your participation. Condolences for the youve sent. I said to the clergy before we died,n today, when gandhi . 16. T and equivalents of leftn luther king died, he 300. D, whileion berry die working so much, he did not leave anything. , ifre asking and have asked you would like to make a , we determined we would do this in a great way. For a great man. If you would like to make a koch vision, make it out to Union Baptist church and we would be most appreciative for your participation and sharing to make this happen in such a glorious way that is happening on today. Marion berry was brilliant. When he worked on his doctorate degree, just short of his quitrtation, when he school to go work with the , he had learned 180 chemical equations that he shared with his son, christopher on several occasions and could still recite them in these later years of his life. The bible says that a tree is known by the fruit that it bears. If you want to understand and know a fruit, you have to check the tree. Exudes his barry father. Hear i waso asked to sit with him as he prepared what he was going to say. Said,i listened, i christopher, i dont need to say anything but just say what you just told me. It will be the greatest tribute that you could ever give to our father. Brothers and sisters, i want you to stand on your feet and barrye Marion Christopher , who in turn, after he speaks, will introduce the honorable minister. [applause] good morning. Off, i want to give honor to god and his ultimate wisdom. He is that they were of all there are no imperfections and no faults and no mistakes. I want to thank the community and everybody that has been praying for our family. Everybody that has lifted us up in prayer. I can truly feel the prayers and it has helped me through this hard time. [applause] in these past few days, everything has been appropriate. I want to thank personally my stepmother. , none of this could have been pulled off in the manner that it was. ,he detail and the pageantry the wide range of support. On thei want to speak man, marion barry. Many of us knew marion barry and a lot of different capacities. Some of you knew him as the committee activist. Some of you knew him as the politician. Some of you knew him as a friend. Today, i want is because the site i knew. Knew. Ak on the side i just being his son. [applause] first off, the first sign of marion barry i wanted to speak on was the teacher and the chemist. Nights, i was in the seventh grade and struggling with chemistry and he would sit me down and knew the periodic table like the back of his hand, even years later. Im talking about the formulas used for his leadership. Why he was such an effective leader. [applause] in chemistry, you have elements and you combine them together and they create a compound. With theme compounds way he handled his business. He said if you take one part courage and one part determination, you can account which any goal. Accomplish any goal. Take one part faith and one part prayer, you can protect yourself from any harm. If you find yourself short on resources and you feel like you cant get something done, short on money, all you need is unity. At your people behind you. Cap your people behind you and you can get anything done. The second side i wanted to talk about was the gardener. Not that he had a green thumb or planted plants or anything. A gardener in a theoretical sense. What is a gardener do . He sees a barren strip of land and he tells the soil adjacent the snakes away and removes the bugs and removes the weeds. So you have a fertile soil. [applause] with that fertile soil, what do you do . You plant seeds. You water them and make sure it gets the proper sunlight and the proper nurse meant. Proper nourishment. He planted season this city seeds in this city. He grew things in peoples hearts and physical things. The warehouses in the parking lots and created this building we are standing and now, the Convention Center. He grew the Verizon Center. He is responsible for the revitalization. He later that foundation and planted the seeds. Father. O talk about the 13 and he tookas me to his hometown in mississippi and took me to clarksdale and greenwood, mississippi. The headquarters of jim crow and White Supremacy and oppression. See what ance to real cotton field look like and what a shotgun house look like. What it took to come from a place like this and rise to greatness. He said the man on the left is weak and the right is weak. I am weak. You have to uplift your brothers with you. You cannot feel like you are better than the next man because money and power can be stripped from you, but if you have unity, you can carry on. Andve carried that with me that was one of the things that always stuck with me. Times i did not feel like he was always spending time with me as a father. Love is ame that force that always recycles. The love he had four people and the love that he passed on to others, when it was time that he was not there, it was other people that embraced me. I had an extended family all over the city. I never felt his absence. I always felt his love through others. By that love, there is not a person in this city that he has not touched. That, marion barry will never die. Because he has taught us how to stand up. He taught us how to live amongst each other and work with each other. His spirit will never die. As long as we take the things he taught us, the values, they say d. C. Will never be the same, youre right. Theres millions of Marion Barrys out here. He will never die. [applause] say, i have lost my father, but i always had my spiritual father. In 1991 at the old Convention Center on 9th street, when he was going through his trial and a lot of his friends had abandoned him and i met the minister. Left thewered me and biggest impression on me because seen hisat, i had friends leave him, Business People leave him, but i had an army of black soldiers by me. I just want to let you know that. That always meant the world to me. I knew that that was his brother and you were his friend. Its only appropriate that when this on this day, im able to it introduced the minister and bring him on. I just want to thank everyone and institute introduce the minister. [applause] in the name of all laah, i br witness that there is but one god and all of the prophets of from that one god and all of the scriptures that we read are from that one god and every human being that we see and dont see has come into that samebecause of one god. [applause] sister, Marion Christopher barry, to all of the brothers and sisters, reverend Willie Wilson and all those who made possible, from the depths of my heart, i thank you for putting together a honors that rightly marion barry and his legacy. [applause] ends, the legacy begins. Hear his son speak spoke. His son begun. The legacy has i am honored beyond words to be here today. Life of our the , our mayorr champion , but not just a local figure, but a man whose work was both national and international. [applause] i was introduced to mayor barry by my esteemed brother, reverend Jesse Jackson. [applause] i found in mayor barry and brother and companion in struggle. And lovedloved god the people of god and loved humanity as a whole. And sometimes, my dear dad was not always there because some of us who come into this life are born for toigher purpose than just work for our families and our work for aut to people and to work for humanity. Such a man was marion barry. When myre in washington brother went through his gray trial. Great trial. The reporter from one of the washington newspapers came to me with a question. But before she asked her upstion, she was building me as some moral giant. Somebody who was married and had a good life and did not use drugs. What do you think she said of a vowsho broke his marital and used drugs . I said, who are you talking about . John Fitzgerald Kennedy . [applause] [laughter] that ended the press conference. It is not right or moral to in an unkinddead way. That for those who like to talk about our deficiencies while they hide those wickedness of their own leaders that have been over us and over the world. [applause] nobody passes this life without committing sin. [applause] nobody, i mean nobody. Pope, the cardinals, the , though the imams e mormons, the president , nobody comes this way without committing sin. [applause] i am a sinner. And if i did not commit sin, i would not need the mercy, the beneficence, the forgiveness of god. [applause] quran says ifaran allah were to punish man for his would be leftsoul alive on the earth. Would the holy ones please up . D and i will sit down. [no audio] [applause] [applause] this is no time for grief and sadness. This is the time for joy and forness and thanksgiving the life that god sent our way e life better for so many people in this city, in the south, in the north. [applause] the million man march could never have happened in any other but at any other time washington, d. C. In the time of mayor barry. Teamife and all of this that came together to put on this program with reverend many, welson, so called for one million men and nearly 2 million showed up. Barry was a, mayor principal helper in that effort. Home after that march. Voters came on the voter roll after that march. Derelict fathers and husbands went back to their wives and families and tried to make a new start. But in this world, when you do good for the masses, you are not by those who suck the blood of the masses to maintain their wealth, influence and power. I am going to close now. In this audience are the elders of the children of israel. I love your singing. Your spirit. You proved that you are the people of god. For andf us to live worthy for us to give our lives for. The young people are rising all over america because somebody sold some disease out there thats germinating. After many days, you will see it coming back to you. Thank you, reverend jackson. Thank you, dr. King. Thank you, malcolm x. Thank you elisha mohammed. Thank you for all of those who went before us. Ifcould not be where we are it were not for those who went before us. It is on the shoulders of yesterday that barack has a today. [applause] so, to the elders, dont get tired. Dont get weary. Dont think about retiring. Lion as long as it has teeth does not retire. Lion will continue to hunt until death overtakes it. There is a lion asleep in judah. Who will waken. Ions. E l cannot totakes lyons who roar awaken a lion that has been trained to think he is a pussycat. King, on the last night of his life i have to of this as a follower mohammed, i grew to love dr. Death than i ever appreciated him in life. Injustice to torow that mans life down some cheap words, i have a dream. They did not kill our brother because he had a dream. Because he was on an evolutionary path of growth and development and if you hear the final words that he spoke, you wouldnt know why they assassinated him you would know why they assassinated him. I am not fearing any man. Thats our problem. We are fearing men. Us, when we chokes meet the adversary, we talk with goggles gargled speech because we want to win friends rather than tell the truth that justice may come. [applause] i am not fearing any man. Mountaintop. O the over and i have promised sky, not a of meager nist to our oppressor and a little money. He said we have seen the promised land. You, het get there with said. Get toas a people will elders ed land now, the elders of israel did not get to the promised land. Because they were afraid of some giants. , foughterry challenged this. He was not a coward. Should not speak his name. So when the elders would not go in because some giants were said i will let them die in the wilderness and i will take their children and they will inhabit the promised land. Our children are rising today. And they dont see giants. I wonder why. As a man named jesus, some of man came to jesus asked him, how do you see men . He said, i see them as trees. Jesus knew the man was not seeing right. Eyeut some spittle on his and asked the man, how do you see men now . Them asman said, i see they are. There are no giants here. That cannot be conquered in the name of god. There is no mountain too high that they cannot climb in the name of god. If that legacy of that great man is to continue, and it will, lets rise up from this Hallowed Ground and go back to work on the struggle for freedom, justice and equality. Thank you for these few moments. [applause] let me take a moment and acknowledge the Great Service that was rendered on last staples. Y bishop e bishop staples [applause] Great Service on last evening. Thank you for those encouraging and inspiring words. We are now going to hear from our dear beloved sister who represents us in the congress. He worked with marion barry she has been a soldier for righteousness in the congress and in our nation. Has served the district for a number of years and has done such a great job. When it comes time for her to take her place again on the congress these receive and welcome the congresswoman as she comes. Come on, d. C. [applause] thank you, reverend wilson. , all of youongress who have served have had the s,ivilege of serving as mayor as members of the city council, Public Officials from all over the country and the world, reverend, clergy, friends of marion barry junior all, i offer my love and condolences yet again to my good. Riend i have been asked to speak about meton barry, whom i first when we were both on the student nonviolent coordinating committee. Marion, a son of the Civil Rights Movement, i ,peak not only for myself today i speak in memory of some who do knew and work with marion. For the colleagues who wanted to be here today but could not and for still others who are here. The role of those who first worked with marion in the movement is much too long to call, my friends. Among them all, john lewis, bob, ruby robinson, diana nash, james forman, richardson,aldson, lafayette and the reverend Jesse Jackson who will deliver the eulogy here today. All of us knew marion barry when formed as a man by the Civil Rights Movement. In washington when mary anion and i had different roles, i used to tease him on the dance floor about bringing those cotton chopping moves to as marion did what he called dancing. He laughed knowing that this was girl of saying. To my old friend from the southern movement, you have come a long way from picking mississippi to running the nations capital. [applause] but those cotton picking roots served marion barry, jr. , well. He challenged poverty by working himself out of it. Coming from the cotton fields of said, i was used to hard work. It does not bother me. That is what he wrote in his autobiography. But it was the civil rights toement that equipped marion challenge segregation and prepare him to become our mayor. If you want to understand marion barry, dont start with his years as mayor. Boy who chopped cotton at seven while going to schoolhouseoneroom and sold newspapers and rags in memphis. Then go to his first years as a man, and you will find marion barry in the Civil Rights Movement. For marion, it was those beginnings in sharecropping deepty deepen the bosom in the bosom of segregated tennessee that led him to the Civil Rights Movement. Him ahildhood embedded in dedication to civil rights and to the poor throughout his years as mayor and as ward 8s councilmember. He called, he sawopping binding sharecropping binding lack economyo the plantation. He said i had no choice but to join the Civil Rights Movement. Wasinjustice of segregation all around me. Marion barry, as a boy, new only segregation. As a man groomed himself to challenge segregation. He used his find mind and pension for hard work to write his own ticket into the professional class. But he gave up his Chemistry School graduate fellowship along with his phd, although he finished all coursework except for the thesis. For marion could not resist the call of the movement. Classes from chemistry to james lawsons nonviolence workshop with diane nash in the nashville sitins, to raleigh where he became the first chair of the student nonviolent coordinating committee, and to the Mississippi Movement and the work of the mississippi freedom democratic party. Notng those years, marion only steeped himself in nonviolent resistance but in active, strategic organization. What marion learned about organizing in the deep south held him in good stead for the rest of his life. He brought Community Organizing to the District Of Columbia and organized his way into the leadership of this city. Escape andhoose to andet childhood poverty merely reminisce about his early years in the movement. Joined hisrion childhood poverty with his lifechanging years in the Civil Rights Movement to form his own worldview. Take forelse you may Marion Barrys life, we must recognize the roots that shaped him. Rejoice that the civil tohts movement brought him the next, or is it the last, frontier for civil rights. Their ownl choose part of Marion Barrys life to remember. But here in the District Of Columbia, here among those of us who still struggle for statehood, let us always marion barry, jr. , freedom fighter. [applause] iano music] what do you do when you have done all you can . Tell me, what do you say away . Riends turn what do you give . You sit back when there is watch myeft to do and lord see you through after you have done all you can you just say how do you get over the guilt of the past . Tell me, how do you deal with the shame . How can you survive when your heart has been broken . So much pain, so much pain tell me, what do you give when it seems like you cannot take the pain . When there is nothing left to you know the lord sees you through after you have done all you can you still have a purpose you still have a plan what do you do when you have done all you can and it seems like you cant get through . Make a plan, plan, plan you must plan through the storm through the rain through the hurt through the pain despair dont fear int give when someone hurts you you stand my brother, you stand my sister, you stand you stand through the storm through the rain through the hurt through the pain we stand through it all canr you have done all you after you have done all you can pray pray after you have done all you can the lord will see you through oh, lord he will wipe the tears from your eyes stand plan you just stand stand for holiness stand for righteousness when you dont know what to do that is the part where god will see you through yes, after you have done all you can standst oh oh, my brother, my sister you stand i have been asked to ask that you please do not snap pictures with yourself owns your cellphones, as i see them flashing now as i speak. They are interrupting with what is being videoed, what have you, and also the family requests that you not do so. Thank you very much. Please regard the screens at this time for a Video Tribute from former congressman Newt Gingrich and julian barnes. There are many civil rights leaders in california today. Oprah winfrey is doing a series on the Civil Rights Movement. Save for that, they would be here today. But there is this video by julian barnes, who is one of those there, and also Newt Gingrich, at this time, to be followed by the mayor of the city, mayor vincent gray, who has gone far above and beyond the call of duty in helping to facilitate this great four days we are celebrating. And we do thank him so much. He will be coming along with former mayors anthony williams, mayor ofatt, and the new jersey, who i must apologize to publicly. He was a i saw him, student at Harvard University and i locked him up at union temple and would not let him out because we were about to shut ton the 14th street bridge say to those allowing the guns and drugs to commit to the city that if we could stop the traffic, they could stop the drugs and guns coming to our city. Mayor vincento, gray and all the former mayors of d. C. Along with the mayor of newark, new jersey, to be followed by the Prince Georges County executive and former mayor, president of the National Urban league, whose father came into office as mayor at the same time marion barry did. Give them all a round of applause for them following the video. Thank you so much. Marion barry was a remarkable citizen. As mayor, city councilman, neighborhood activist, and as a civil rights leader. The most remarkable thing about his career was his passion for the people of washington and particularly for the poorest neighborhoods in washington. His commitment year after year to do everything he could to improve the lives of people, of all the folks i worked with when i was speaker, i think marion barry was the most people oriented in dealing with washington, d. C. s problems. In the meetings i had with him, he was always concerned that we remember there are poor neighborhoods, poor schools, faces with their of folks who need extra help and that we have an obligation to remember them and reach out to try to improve their lives. With his help, we did a number of things that improved washington that would not have occurred without his leadership and support. I think all of us should take a moment to remember that you can be a remarkable citizen. You can make a big difference. You can lead a life worth studying, and you leave a big mark. We will all remember him with affection, with respect, and with an amazing sense that here was an american who made a real difference in our national capital. Meeting marion barry at the Organization Meeting of the student nonviolent in nonviolence coordinating committee in raleigh, north carolina, in april of 1960. He was already wellknown to me, as were most of the leadership figures of the Civil Rights Movement, because we have seen their pictures in the paper. Occasionally, we had seen them on t. V. He was an impressive guy, he was tall, commanding, outspoken. He was not afraid to say what he wanted to say. He cut a swath through the people there. He was an impressive guy. Inm curious as to why himersalizing eulogizing everyone talks about his time as mayor in public life but no one iod heabout this per spent with the student nonviolent coordinating committee. He was part of this band of brothers and sisters, young people, who jumped out of school and agreed to sacrifice their education to fight for justice and freedom. I hope at this ceremony i am missing because i cannot be there that there will be more people to talk about that. I know many people will talk about that over and over again. I am sorry to miss it. [applause] mayor vincent gray accompanied by the former mayors and the mayor of newark. Please give them a hand. We will ask everyone to move quickly. Thank you so much. Good afternoon. Here with myto be esteemed predecessor, mayor sharon pratt, mayor anthony with the and also mayor of newark, new jersey, roz brocaraka. [applause] on behalf of the 660,000 people that live in the district of againia, i want to once extend, as others have done, our deepest sympathies to former , cora barry, and to Marion Christopher barry who spoke so eloquently when he was up here earlier. [applause] you know, while marion is now knowt in body, i think we he is fully present in his. Pirit in this place today isnt he, ladies and gentlemen . [applause] us,gh he is no longer with we also know how much he contributed to the growth and development of his beloved District Of Columbia. Many marion barry inries, so many instances which the mayor changed someones life or opened the door of opportunity for a person or community. Like many other washingtonians, i choose to remember marion barry by remembering his lifelong commitment to building to freeity and working it from congressionally imposed the servitude to which we were relegated in the District Of Columbia. Replete own story is with witnessing injustices here and around the country. He knew well the daunting heights of the barriers of advancement and success faced by African Americans in this nation. Gifted atecially getting young people involved and creating a new future for themselves and all of us. Marion barry came to washington in 1965 to work with snake. He saw a city that in many ways was every bit as segregated as the mississippi of his childhood. He found a majority black city ruled not by residents but by a congress in which residents had no voting voice. He also Learned Congress had delegated oversight of the city to its most conservative, white, southern members. Marion barry had found a place where he would make his mark, first as an activist for better relations with police and better Job Opportunities for African Americans in the city. He stepped up to the plate as a servant leader because there was work to be done. He got elected to the board of then after home row was approved for the District Of Columbia, he was elected to the first popularly elected d. C. Council. Many of us know that in his mayor, he as achieved some truly remarkable successes. He helped to get the citys chaotic finances under control and helped turn our metropolitan Police Department into an agency look more like the people of the District Of Columbia. Ladies and gentlemen, couldnt a lot of other cities learn that at this stage . [applause] build thelped districts black middle class through a groundbreaking program that required a share of city business to go to blackowned enterprises. And of course, he created a widely acclaimed Summer Youth Employment program. How many people have you heard say, i got my first job under marion barry . [applause] i knew marion barry for years. There is one antidote anecdote that leaps to mind. He and i talked about it often. It was an example of his true character. Know i once served as the executive director of what was then known as the association for retarded citizens. One of our key goals was to move people with intellectual disabilities from an inhumane institution named forest haven into Community Living in the District Of Columbia. [applause] there was, ladies, fierce ladies and gentlemen, fierce opposition in many neighborhoods to group homes, unfortunately supported by some of the worst myths imaginable. One evening, i was with marion barry in an affluent committee where the district was seeking to establish a home. Nearly 200 people showed up and packed this room for this meeting trade they only had one purpose, the purpose was to stop this home from opening. Once mayor barry finished his presentation, there was a man that immediately rose and began peppering him with questions. When it became clear the mans inquiries had no constructive said, and ior barry quote, you really dont want an answer, do you . If you want to talk about how we make this work, i will stay here with you all night. Otherwise, i have nothing else to say to you. [applause] standingvintage barry up for people who were disadvantaged, people who could not effectively fight for themselves. The meetingay, ended soon thereafter. And was a huge success because marion barry stood up for a group of people that could not effectively speak for themselves. [applause] many of us dont get to smell the flowers while we are here on earth. Life,s last year of his mayor barrys book was published and he was able to share his story, his thoughts, and his insights with many of us as he appeared at book signings and interviews on television and radio. Who had never heard of marion barry were able to learn more about him and gain insight into the person who was popularly known as mayor for life in the District Of Columbia. [applause] supporters and newcomers to the barry story swarmed around him, they and workeds journey with him so he could pass the torch of knowledge on to the next generation. Legacy isrys intimately woven into the fabric of the District Of Columbia. He is still alive in so many ways in the District Of Columbia today. And ladies and gentlemen, marion barry will always be alive in the District Of Columbia. [applause] let me end by saying on behalf of those up here, well done, m. B. We love you and appreciate everything you have done for all of us in this great city. [applause] bless you. We are about 45 minutes behind schedule. We must be in the cemetery before it gets dark or we will not be able to inter the remains. Im going to ask everyone to be limited to two minutes as we go forward. We must get our eulogies up in a timely fashion. At this time, the Prince Georges County executive is coming followed by mayor marc morial, then reverend michael bell, and reverend stanley will byd scriptures followed Council Members past and present and mayorelect Muriel Bowser in that order. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Two cora masters barry, christopher barry, it is my pleasure to be here to represent the people of Prince Georges County. [applause] there you go. I am pleased to be joined by our Council Chair and Council Members. We are pleased to be here representing ward 9, i think they said. [applause] i like to say we came here to claim our land back. [laughter] you know, in life, you encounter and experience, it is about the people you meet, the places we go and the situations and environments we are exposed to. Lives, weourse of our welcome and meet people across the world who possess wonderful gifts of capturing our hearts and minds. Through their energy, passion, and commitment, they cause us to believe and understand that we can dramatically change the course of events in our lives and in the world. Marion barry was one of those people. 6, 2010, the mayor for life was sitting in the hand row as i raised my and took the oath of office to become Prince Georges County executive. To haven honor for me him there supporting me. I have said this over the course i the last few weeks, that too was one of those people that got his very first real job thanks to Marion Barrys Summer Youth Program. [applause] it was an honor to have the man that helped start my professional life be there as i reached the height of my political life. I am glad to be here today to support him in his transition and homecoming, ongoing transition. X home going transition. There is a scripture that i think aptly describes marion barry. Us that hemself for might redeem us from all inequities unto himself a particular people of zealous works. Speak these things, extort, and rebuke all authorities. Let no one despise you. Scripture sums up marion barry. He gave himself to the people so that we would have a better life. What so manyny people would say about him, he was there for us. We are proud to represent him. God bless marion barry and his legacy. [applause] marc morial, National Urban league. Good afternoon and greetings two cora masters barry and marion and christopher barry. Let me express on behalf of the urban league movement, friends and supporters around the nation, our prayers and condolences on the loss of the who, great marion barry, just joined us at the urban League Conference in cincinnati, ohio, in late july. Marion barry was part of a generation, a generation of civil rights leaders who worked and toiled and fought and then became that generation of African American mayors in the 1970s who brought the ethic and edict of civil rights and social justice to the city halls of america. They were hatcher and stokes, gibson and jackson, bradley and al. Ng, ford and mori pioneers in city halls across the land. A president over 100 years ago said, it is not the critics who count. It is not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or whether the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood. Who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again. Because there is no effort shortcoming. And but those who actually strive to do the deeds, who know the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spend themselves in a worthy cause know the triumphs of high achievement. And if he does doering we fall short, his place will not be with the cold and tired souls who know neither victory nor defeat. Marion barry was a man in the arena. City, he was in the arena in providing thousands and thousands of jobs to young people of this city. He was the mayor in the arena who built not one but two Convention Centers to augment washingtons tourism industry. He was in the arena helping bring the Verizon Center to Downtown Washington so the capitals and wizards could return to washington, d. C. He was the mayor in the arena helping to orchestrate real estate transactions which rebuilt the riverfront of washington, d. C. And he was the mayor in the aena who helped to develop minority Business Enterprise policy which changed the landscape of washington, d. C. [applause] not a cold ands tired soul who knew neither victory nor defeat. We celebrate him today as a champion, as not only a pioneering civil rights leader, but as a pioneering mayor of a Great American city. Marion barry was first of all, he transcended all, and he continues to live. Thank you very much. [applause] proverbs chapter three, you will find these words. My son, forget not my law. But let thy heart keep my commandments. Let the days and years of life and peace they will add to thee. Let not kindness and truth forsake thee. Bind them about thy neck and write them up on the tablet of thy heart. So shall theyll find favor and good understanding in the sight of god and men. Trust in the lord with all by heart and lean not unto thy own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him and he will direct my path. And the people of god said amen. To show upoy it is and celebrate this amazing man whose whole life was about showing up, gathering up, and building up others. Whether it was the Faith Community or those in the pews were the people in the streets, there is no doubt this mississippi man will be greatly missed for everything he brought to us. For the comfort he gave to so many. Is to receive his blessing to all of us. That wasture he chose his absolute favorite from john chapter 14, versus one through six. As we prepare to hear it, let us remember what he no doubt would want us to go about it. That these were words spoken by christ on the day before his alreadyter he had taught the people how to love and serve and washed the feet of others in the way our mayor did , too. These were the words jesus offered of promise, of a relationship that will never break, not even one life on earth ends. Us andrists words to this blessing the mayor wanted to comfort us with. Troubled. Our heart be ye believe in god. Believe also in me. In my Fathers House are many mansions. If it were not so, i would have told you. But i go to prepare a place for you. And if i go and prepare a place for you, i will come in and receive you unto myself that. Here i am there ye may be also know and the, ye way you know. Thomas said under him, we know not whether thou goest and how can we know the way . Saith unto him, i am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh to the father but by me. These are the words and comfort of our lord. Amen. [applause] at this time, we are going to hear from Council Members past and present. The mayorelect along with the who worked vigorously to make these days the success it has been. I will ask them to come in that order at this time. [applause] two days following the primary of the first election, marion barry and i met to consider issues of organization of the first elected city council. As we mused about the long journey to that day, we were reminded of a stretch on that road when mary and was in the street trying to instill hope in young men whose lives seem to empty and full of endless despair. Recalled heed developed a jobs Training Plan took ite young men and to the then u. S. Secretary of labor for funding. The secretary showed considerable interest in the possibilities but was skeptical of its chances for success. After a few minutes of quizzing barry, the secretary asked, marion, do you really think this will work . Replied, we may not be able to do go all we want to do, but i do know we have to do something. That statement for me characterized the life and work of marion barry. I recall a Council Member hearing in the early days in which a citizen came up to very barry and called him a sellout because he agreed to changes in a bill which would help assure its passage. I barry calmly replied, could not do all that needs to be done, but i knew we had to do something. As we put together the structure, organization, and work of the council, mr. Barry was careful to be assured that within the proposed framework the council would always be able to do something. Whether on the streets, in the suites, the halls of congress, or the council chambers, mr. Barry was always doing something. The honorable marion barry is no longer with us in body, but in spirit he will still be there urging us to do something. [applause] marion barry is elected mayor of the District Of Columbia in 1978. , a young dashiki wearing activist, handsome, well prepared academically. Can i get an amen . Amen. He replaced a seasoned mayor washington and urban league leader. When he won the election, he brought everyone under the tents. He brought with him or hired a , dwight, jim, ally cortland, and many others who came later. Orphaned d. C. Government not cared for but labored by them with people and responsibilities. Inmade dramatic improvements the finances of the city and in many other ways. I was elected in 1979. I left a career in science. What i discovered about mayor barry was that he was curious about everything. He was eager to learn. He was he wanted to master all of his responsibilities. He was a sponge for new information. If he sat with you and you that you what it was itted them to do and thought was meritorious, you would have thought he had a phd in the project before he presented it and made it his. He learned about my science career, and i learned about his chemistry training. But i also learned his politics. I watched him time and time again best his opponents. He was wicked smart. And he was smartly defiant when wronged. And when his community was wronged. I learned from him how to use power to provide opportunity. I watched this mayor use his power to provide opportunity. [applause] but i learned so much from him that i soon became a political problem to him. [laughter] oft started a phase intellectual combat. It was kind of a political contest of wills where there was mutual respect, and i thoroughly enjoyed the combat with a man who was as bright as he, i enjoyed the record take re parte. I enjoyed him saying you cannot do it like that. When i got a call to speak today, i smiled because sometimes you can be engaged in mortal combat and you are not friends. But we were engaged in combat and we were friends. [applause] smile that i got this call because i know i had been a thorn in his side. But i was probably one of his best students in understanding my responsibility to those who needed someone to speak for them. Honor, ifon barrys you see something, do something. If you see a child who cannot read, in his honor, do something. [applause] if you see a community that is in distress, in his honor, do something. If you see communities who do not trust one another, who do not talk to one another, who do not understand one another, but have to live with one another . In his honor, do something. Abusedsee women who are and families in distress because of it, in his honor, do something. When you leave here today, think about what he taught all of us by using power to obtain opportunity, and do something. [applause] cora, christopher, all the members of the berry family. Mayor, Council Members, and residents of the district of who have our friends come from far and near, i am humbled to be among the distinguished speakers who are the life of our friend, marion barry. We know Christopher Newton as a father, cora as a husband, and all of us as mayor of life, Council Member, an activist. I count myself among the many, the lucky, who got to work with him closely and know him as a friend and mentor. Up theot easy to sum remarkable life of marion barry. A word thatnd here, constantly comes up is fighter. It not only describes his bigger than life persona, but how he lived his life in service to others. I think it goes without saying that few have had a career, a life, as profound as mr. Barrys or left such a tremendous impact on our city. There is not a, day that goes by that i dont run into somebody who tells me how mr. Barry impacted their life in some way. How he was responsible for giving them their first job or how he helped someone starting a aniness or how he was inspiration to their son, daughter, or grandchild as mentor. Who called men 7 00 in the morning one morning after crying all night about the loss of marion and how we all had to be responsible to stand up to the challenge he leaves us. He leaves behind a strong legacy for our children and city. He was a true champion for ward 8. Every day, he woke up trying to find solutions, create opportunities for the residents who had long been denied equal opportunity to succeed in our city. Marione system failed, did whatever he could to help. Sincere,freshingly refreshingly honest, even when it hurt. Early november when he was getting ready for the thing he loved the most, serving ward eight at thanksgiving. He sent a tweet that says, i could do more. I wish i could do more. But i will do all i can. I remember the first time i met mr. Barry. He likes to say i was 14, but really i was six. [laughter] embodied all of the characteristics of a prize fighter. He was a towering man, tall, fine, smart. Swaggerd with a certain until the day he died. Terms,d his life on his his way, until the day he died. He had an unbridled confidence. He was unlike anybody i have ever known. It was that confidence that took him to the Mayors Office in our nations capital. That withing proof smarts, persistence, opportunities were few for the men and women of color of his time, but he persevered. He showed everybody it was possible to rise, it was possible to lead. Marion did that without ever losing sight of who he was or where he came from or what his responsibility was to the struggle. We know this. Sometime after martin had a or president obama gave us hope, marion barry provided opportunity. [applause] we have heard about his Summer Youth Program. I am going to work every day very hard to make sure every summer the children of the District Of Columbia know that the mayors Summer Youth Program was the marion barry Summer Youth Program and the opportunity they have to work in the summer was because of marion s. Barry, jr. Up until marion passed, we talked nearly everyday. Five times a day sometimes. In every conversation, he was passionate as ever offering advice and sharing his experience as mayor. Everyday since he has passed, someone tells me, Muriel Bowser, marion trusted you. Marion trusted you to speak up for us, to stand up for us, to fight for us. Marion trusted you with the baton he passed on to lead the District Of Columbia. It is that fight, it is that spirit, that i will stand before you again on january 2 to become the next mayor of the District Of Columbia. I will stand with that spirit of the mayor for life, the mayor forever, marion barry. God bless you. [applause] good afternoon. Two cora, christopher, and all of the loved ones, our as thences, for me council of the District Of Columbia. This is a home going, a celebration. I feel it has been a little too serious. Marion barry was someone who knew how to laugh, enjoy life, how to cut it up, so i will begin with this. Everyone has a marion barry story. I have plenty. But how many of you can say marion barry had you arrested . [laughter] i can. A decade before i was elected to the council, i was one of those pesky neighborhood commissioners from ward 3. We had this development controversy which i helped to start up stir up. We were trying to find every way fe make the mayor for life li miserable. With thised articles picture saying everything was his fault. We ran a right in campaign against him and blocked the bulldozers. We did the latter for two weeks. Ultimately, the mayor gave the order to fred cook to have us arrested. [laughter] i often joke with fred about it because, of course, the charges did not stick. We actually got our park back. But there were a few lessons we learned from that episode. One was that marion barry was responsible. He heard us. Changes were made to the law. Another was that marion barry did not hold grudges. We were all over him, but he kept coming back to try to win our support. Was a lesson for me, one that i had followed my own elected life. When folks are mad at you, reach out. When they come to your house to protest, dont hide inside. Come out, talk to them. [applause] l. Ok around this hal i am not the only one that fought with marion on an issue, yet he was our friend. I still remember back in september of 1978 when marion won the race for mayor. At that time, i was a crazy activist and we were fighting mass evictions at our apartment complex. We saw marion barry as hope. Our reaction was shared by many citizens. What marks marion barry as an important leader in our civic history is that for almost 50 years, people saw marion as hope. He gave voice to the last, the lost, and the least. There are folks that dont understand politics. How could somebody with controversy get elected and reelected, they asked. Because politics is about human relations. Marion barry connected with people. [applause] marion barry helped people. Marion barry gave voice to people like tenants back marian disagreed with people, too. That was also a strength. Fightingearly days of for justice and equality to his last year on the council fighting to restore benefits to families on welfare, i would argue this is what made mary and barry a leader marion barry a leader. The combination of touching people, yet being a fighter. He fought for principles important to him and to us. I want to make knowledge all of the current and former members of the council who are here this afternoon. There are too many to name individually and there is a point in that. Their presence emphasizes the importance of marion barry. Although most everyone thinks of him as a former mayor, mayor for life, the fact is that he was elected six times to the council. [applause] and he served almost 16 years on it, about the same length of time that he served as mayor of our great city. [applause] there is not a member of the council who is not has not benefited from knowing and working with marion, whether his skills to connect with residents , his persistence, his political to go fromis ability opponent to ally depending on the issue. He taught each of us about fighting for justice and fighting for the poor. It now becomes our response ability to keep his legacy alive. Mystery of life what we are to do with our time here on earth. It is my believe that we should strive to be a best leave this a better place and make improvement. There is no question that this is what marion barry did. This is why we are here to say thank you. 90, we spend psalm our years at the tales of the told, the days of our years of and if by reason of strength it before score years, yet is a strength and labor and starve for it is soon cut off and we fly away. Teach us to number our days that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom. [applause] we are going to move right along here. I am exercising pastora privilege. I have installed an automatic bungee hook. The next person that goes over the allotted time, i will push the button and you will be suspended in the air. People will see your mouth moving but they will not hear you. At this time, we are going to hear from marions first chief of staff. Rosetta, Carol Thompson women inresenting the his administration through the years. Please received them, followed by the business leaders, eric miller. Remember the bungee hook. I will be very brief. Mrs. Mary and christopher, i want to speak briefly about marion barry as a public administrator. 1979, almost 36 years ago, we had never been audited. Our National Accounting firm wrote to the congress that our books were in such a disarray that they did not know how much money we had. We had at first Balance Sheet audit in 1979 and we had any chemo a deficit of two and 79 million 200 some 9 million. 270 9 million p for the next five years, we had a balanced budget and we had a surplus. The next five years. That bydnt know becausethe newspapers people think we have the first balanced budget under the control board but it was under marion barry. He also did something in terms of diversity. Women,inted more nontraditional positions than any other mayor or governor in this country. [applause] the first inspector general, the , the firstcouncil budget director, the first director of finance and revenue. Marion berry appointed over 20 women to top positions in the d. C. Government. Minority participation. When we came into office with a 25 goal, the district was awarding about 34 of its contracts to qualified minorities. We got it up beyond 30 . The way we got to 35 , the mayor cut a deal with people promising to balance the budget. One southern chair said, mr. Mayor, if you balance your the otherwill look way when the bill comes on the hill. Thats how we got to 35 . Firms, lawbanking firms, all people in this room would not be here if it were not for Marion Barrys leadership and demanding that firms hired qualified minorities and women. Last but not least, how do we get the center . We met for six months. We had recommended another place. 1 30, theg about mayor said lets take a vote. Thats how you got the center. On behalf of the thousands of people of color who serve in positions throughout the United States, we want to thank the mayor for the unique opportunity that he gave all of us. Let me bring my Dear Colleague here who was the Honest Department head in the district, miss Carol Thompson cole [applause]. And christopher, thank you for the honor of interview to my mayor. Growing up in washington, i always wanted to work for the district government to help make our city a better place for all who live here. In 1979, he gave me that opportunity. The exciting thing about working in d. C. Government under his leadership is that women and Young Professionals had opportunities available to them. Smart andked hard, were bold, there were opportunities to lead. Mayor berry appointed me rector of the department of investigations and inspections when i was in my 20s. I had several positions after that and then he appointed me the city administrator responsible for daytoday operations in my 30s. [applause] and it doese then not happen very much now. Who has beenwoman the city administrator. [applause] barry appointed many women to nontraditional female leadership roles. What is really important about that, many of those positions have been held by multiple women. He just did not believe in firsts. He made history in september of 1979. He signed the mayors order 79 204 establishing the d. C. Womens Program Management committee. It was part of an equal opportunity effort. To expand employment and advance opportunity for women and to break barriers to equal opportunity. This program helped prepare women to take on positions in agencies throughout our city government. Im am proud to have been part of an administration that was the National Leader in appointing women to highlevel positions and preparing women for leadership roles in all of city agencies. Mayor very appointed competent, committed and compassionate Public Officials. Men and women. Today, if you go around this country and many people in this Convention Center today and in the region and the world, they got their breakthrough opportunity from mayor b arry. In philanthropy, in the social sector. All of us are eternally grateful to him. On a personal note, i want to thank the mayor for allowing my childhood dreams to come true. Mr. Mayor, please rest in peace. [applause] good afternoon. Berry and christopher barry, its my honor to speak to frienday on behalf of my , marion barry. I met him when i was a young girl. On our first meeting, he told me that i should run for Student Government president. I had no desire to run but when i found out it paid my tuitions won. Ooks, iran an ran and from there, i worked on his campaign. Election, i was so excited. The best experience ive ever had. In january 1995 and i told him i would quit and come work for you and he told me pretty clearly that if i did not finish grad school, he would not hire me. Finished, he had a position for me is to be director deputy director. It changed the entire trajectory of my life. He was not just a man who believed in putting women in positions, but he championed women. He believed in them. Oddity,e not just an but a commodity that was valued and bring great dividends. He was unprecedented in his approach. Strategic in his thinking. Savvy in his execution. Unapologetic in his conviction. Of youeight steps ahead and his recollection and he knew the answer to the equation before the equation was ever asked. You never have to ask marion barry. He would give you a direct answer. , he would go to 68 churches in the day. I would ask them, how do you do it . ,hen people are not kind to you when people u. S. Upheld and blessed and open doors and made millionaires and multimillionaires will not take your calls . He said i have a secret weapon. I said, what is it . He said i have a garment of praise. Oh, the blood of jesus. The baptists say it like this. Reaching to the highest mountain, the charismatic things like this i know it was the blood c. What can wash away my sins . Nothing but the blood of jesus. Why and he read off luke and said the spirit of the lord is upon me. Because he has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. He hasnt sent me to heal the brokenhearted. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted. When i went back to look at the text, one thing i look at said after jesus read the text, he closed the book and handed it to his assistant and took a seat. Marion berry closed the book. When somebody passes away, their mental goes into the earth realm. Is there anybody in here that would pick up the mantle . Is there anybody here . Who would take up the mantle like marion barry . Today, i want to say to my teacher, my friend, you have earned the right to take your seat. Sitting at the right hand of the father, you have fought the good thereu have friends is laid up for you a crown of righteousness. May the lord god bless you. [applause] thank all of these speakers. Restless. Tting we need to music right along through here. Music rightome along through here. [singing hymn] praise,e praise, and we ,nd we praise, and we praise praise,raise, and we d we praise [applause] i gavebarry was him an african name when he was at his lowest. God bless you. Time, we are going to hear from our business leaders, many of whom it marion barry helped immensely in the development of their careers. Followed by another musical selection as we leave. Ersonal relationships Barbara Williams skinner, thomas thank you. I know it marion had been here, he would be singing, too. Place, i would not have been able to develop these projects without marion barry. And was scientific mind three credit hours short of receiving his phd in chemistry. He was analytical as well as practical. Our city is better off because he eventually became mayor bar ry. And majorproblems projects achieved a reality. , wee entered his last term greeted to put together a task force to revitalize downtown d. C. The heart beating again, the rest of the city would follow and grow. In late 1995, we invited local citizens and developers who were fighting and suing each other to join the task force. Ins was a remarkable episode the citys great evolution where leaders and everyday citizens came together like they never would have under any other circumstance. We brought together leaders from head ofgovernment, the tsa, the secretary of the smithsonian, the undersecretary of commerce, Top Entertainment companies, the executive Vice President of time warner, disney, landmark entertainment, it grew from 12 people to 112 people. We had eight bills in congress that created Business Improvement districts, provided first time tax credit for homebuyers, creating an enterprise zone and provided Real Estate Tax abatement for the first 8000 new housing units. We worked with the federal entities for the redevelopment of the Old Post Office as the hotel monaco. And the renovation of the old building and the smithsonian, american arts museum. Million dollars in new developments took place in downtown over seven years, the most successful read of element of an american downtown. Redevelopment of an american downtown. The difficult balance of financial incentives and community needs. Chemist taught a him how to achieve results. He may have been the miss most most misunderstood genius ive ever known. We would all agree that d. C. Will never be the same because of him. Im proud he considered me a friend for over 45 years and im honored to call him the same. I love you, marion. May god bless you. [applause] i want to start this off the way marion barry wood started off. Good afternoon. It off. Have started im here because of marion barry. To thank one of the most special people i have ever had the pressure pleasure to me. His legacy has done justice and is now transitioning. Ady of our first leade barry. Ora masters i first met marion barry in 1974 at a meet and greet. I was 14 years old being raised by single mother. I remember that moment like it was yesterday. A strong black man determined to not down the barriers keeping africanamericans from access to the american dream. Proud, butl, i was most of all, i felt a great sense of gratitude. For i knew that my vision was right because marion barry was here to fight for it. Later, he was elected mayor and i was in my freshman year at rutgers university. I knew that there would be great opportunity in my hometown. I quit college after my first year and came back to washington to start my career. Four years later, he appointed the tax appeal board. The next year, he made me chairman. I was 24 years old. That gave me a ticket into the world of commercial real estate. Two years later, this administration agreed to build an Office Building in anacostia. I was 26 years old. That building became the foundation of my company, which today is now 4 billion. [applause] barry caught me to dream big. He gave me the opportunity to make those dreams come true. Most of all, marion berry believed in me. My story is not unique. Arry made washington, d. C. The mecca of a African American entrepreneurship. Created the black middle class in washington, d c. City thatus in this is africanamerican, to have any wealth, owes that to marion barry as well. My company does business around the country, including places like new york city, miami and san francisco. When it comes to Economic Empowerment for africanamericans, they are generations behind the washington, d. C. That marion barry built. I was in a meeting in new york city with the president of the new york state naacp and i was expressing my frustration about how far behind new york city was when compared to washington, d. C. For minority businesses. The president of the naacp said thats because you all had marion barry. You know what . When marion barry walked in the door in city hall in 1979, minority businesses got 3 of the contracts from this city. Term,e started his third minority businesses were getting nearly 50 . [applause] let me tellrs you the power of that number. Today, new york citys minority contracting percentage is 3 . Marion berry transformed black businesses and made d. C. The envy of all. If it was not for marion barry, i would not be the nations largest africanamerican economic developer. God bless our city and our country with marion barry. I will close with a familiar saying. Perfect, butis not he was perfect for washington. God bless marion barry. [applause] god,ving honor to recognizing the clergy in the , cora and christopher, marion is my friend. I know he is everybodys friend in this room. I was had some surprised that the present of the urban league knew as much as he knows about minority businesses and his commitment to minority businesses in the District Of Columbia. I would ask you to listen to a story he was appointed by marion and the rest is history. Ask those behind me to say their two minutes. , who hasy to cora given my friend home going he deserves, thank you. ,or the last couple of days this has been outstanding and the team has worked so hard. For that reason, i would not have this go another day. What a lot of people dont know less than 100 up miles north of where marion grew up in mississippi. We would talk about the cotton field and he would tell me stories about what happened at and theof the road cotton field. I look forward to meeting my friend. Lets discuss what happens at the end of this journey we call life. Thank you. [applause] fred cook, Barbara Williams masters, please come in that order. Waiting marion would appreciate all of the incredible things that have been said about him today. As a spiritual advisor, i would think we are cautioned today not to deify an ordinary man who was made extraordinary by god who did amazing things. Marion berry was like you and me. He just let god use him in an extraordinary way to help a lot of people. Serve thery did not god of the perfect and pies. Perfect and pious. God who lifted him up to help everybody who could. Timee tell you about the that got met him in the lowest moment of his life, the time in prison. Abandoned by the many millionaires that he made and those who succeeded because marion gave them. , tom skinnernts and i visited him in prison. We met a man who had a little talk with jesus. ,e came out standing straight like he isad up ready to go. He had had time with jesus on his life. The next thing i knew, marion barry was reading my Angela Angelou because hes coming out of prison planning his next term as mayor. For all those who had written him off as politically dead, like lazarus, he took off the grave clothes and walked out of the tomb and came into the and said im ready to serve. What is the message today for us . Dont give up on anybody. , marion barryn showed you how to get up. If youve been pushed back, you can be brought up. Somebody can bring you up. By seeingor this man the lowest of the lowest at the highest of the highest. Bycan honor marion barry never walking past another homeless person and leaving another child behind. There is aure that housing policy and a safe school policy. That is how we handle a man who came out of the grave to rise to help the whole city. Thank you very much and god bless you. Amen. God is good. Im the time youngest brother of cora masters barry. Im proud to be in the masters family. We hadre with you several constituents call our office, which i had served in my fourth term. People would ask me the same question. How is your sister . How is cora . I will take 30 seconds to tell you how cora is. You must not know cora. Cora is stronger than everybody in this room put together. Give her a big hand. She was there with marion up and down through thick and 10. Thin i salute you. I had an opportunity to minister to him on several occasions. One when he was in recovery. He said, tommy, i want you to bring me a tape every single day of a sermon. So often, we had an opportunity to sit down together and discuss various scriptures in the bible during his restoration. One of the scriptures quoted you to hear marion speaking it because he would often say to me the lord is my light. Whom shall i fear . He lord is the strength of whom should i be afraid . My foes came upon me to eat of my flesh. To use up my flesh. I look over to my brother and he in the time of trouble, he shall hide me. And that tabernacle. He said my hands shall be lifted up above my enemies. I was there with him when he married my sister. I was there with him when he came to my mothers funeral. I was there with him on a personal level many times. Month,thought of this , i did a of november Little Research and wanted to know what it was about this month. Several great men of service died on the battlefield in the month of november. Booker t. Washington, john f. , nelson mandela, miles monroe. Marion died around things giving thanksgiving. I wonder why. On this thanksgiving day, whether you like it or not, im one to make sure that the mayor for life is on everybodys table for thanksgiving. So today, my brothers and goders, we come to give thanksgiving. We come to give him thanksgiving for marion barry. A man who served our family, served the nation, served my friends well. We thank god for his service, his commitment and most of all, he taught us if we get down, we can get back up. We thank god for his witness. Conclusion, i go back to that marioning you loved one song. He loved a couple. It there was one that he and would often sing together. Verse and i one would get another. Says something something. Shake your neighbors hand and say neighbor, the lord will make a way somehow. I hear marion saying, like a p i wish i had a witness. [singing hymn] ymn]ging hmn can i get a witness . He will make a way. God bless them. We will make a way, somehow. [applause] say yeah yeah friends of marion barry, cook,torney fred thank you. Christopher, to all of you who have come to celebrate this home going for my friend, marion barry, i represent Marion Barrys original hometown in mississippi. When he left, black people cannot vote. If you came to the town, the mayor, his sister, the state representative, the state senator as a brother. The congressperson is a brother thanks to marion barry and their hard work. I have resolutions from the state of mississippi. Just about everyone you can name recognizing the son of a sharecropper. Asriend has been defined those who show up when you are down. When i look at this audience, i say that marion barry had a lot of friends. He dared to be different. Can you imagine the power said you aren he going to have to share this great wealth of this city . His vision helped expand the black middle class in the capital region. Nerves of steel, the cunning of a warrior, marion barry was ur kind of leader. He never met a stranger. Someone has to represent the poor, the homeless and the downtrodden. Marion barry was that person. Marion berry is an example of what can happen when the system tries to choose our heroes for us and the people push back. Hard asindividuals work they could to break him down. The people, the ones who were most important to him, always welcomed him with open arms and received him more warmly. This speaks volumes about the kind of man and the kind of leader marian barry was to our great country. Rest in peace. [applause] good afternoon. Lifetime and a have been honored to spend a lifetime with a man who empowered every one of us in this room. I had the privilege of spending the last few days of his life in the hospital with him. About whatlked mattered most to him as he was trying to give this community the comfort that he was ok. It all started with his family cora. With his family. Cora, thank you for putting together a difficult task at a time when you are grieving. Christopher, thank you for assisting in this process. Most important, between christopher and i, he was was notthat his father of the thought that he was ready to assume the mantle. After hearing christopher today, i was met to you that there is no question that he is ready submit to you that there is no question that he is ready. His conversation was about the people that he was fortunate to serve during his years of service in this community. , with all theoud problems we face, whether we are a community or a chaos if we are a chaos, there is an obligation on the part of each and every one of us to do something about it. I close by giving you the words he always gave to us. ,ther than talking about it what the hell are you going to do about it . When you leave from here, i want you to go out and do something about it. He did that for every one of us. Whatever you believe marion odu, he has already given it to you owed youlieve marion come has already given it to you. Afternoon. , imra and christopher humbled and thankful to have this opportunity. I will not take much more than my two minutes. Im grateful to marion barry. I owe him my career. [applause] do. Ad a job to i had a job to do. He understood that more than all of us. On behalf of myself and all of , i would journalists like to thank marion barry for the overtime. [laughter] our relationship we were as excited about marion barry becoming mayor as we were about barack obama becoming president. Goodlooking, young, exciting, different, lots of newspapers and sold. My relationship took off when he learned three words. Off the record. In the past, he would tell me something huge and i would say i have to go with that. He would say, no, thats off the record. I said, no, you have to tell me its off the record first. [laughter] after that, i would always have two conversations with marion barry. Off the record and then we would negotiate with i can report. Spokesperson could tell you, i would call for marion barry when i heard he was in the hospital. He takes the phone from them because he was always the best pr person, or so he thought. I can recall this thursday night , we went into Howard University hospital and i hear his voice and seconds later he is on the phone. He sounded very weak. I said you need to get some rest. ,he next morning, i get a call marion barry calling the. Im feeling better. Give me out of here. That was my last conversation with them. Thats with him. My last conversation with him. Sayy business, people will the thing about marion barry lets stop this meant that he was a champion of the poor people. Myth. Tell the whole story. He expanded government but give jobs to people, to bring. They became cabinet heads and that sort of thing. Here is the story i tell. I remember the story that jack evans told me. A lot of people were running for marions job. Get them all in to buy the boat and let you walk right in their. Votes and let me walk right in there. Jack says explain to me the marion barry phenomenon. What is it about him . An old man says, ok, i will. If there is one dollar on the i know marionere, is fighting for me to get a piece of that dollar. I cant say that about the rest of you all. [applause] cora, christopher, family, friends, good afternoon. My name is fred cook and i had the great privilege to serve as the personal internal marion berry free number of years. Personal attorney for marion barry for a number of years. I was not successful, but i should have been. One of the cases where i failed marion barry and i feel bad about that. Me, how is it that you kept marion barry out of jail all this time . Why did you do that, fred . I cannot explain the how. I was trained at the university of power Howard University school of law. We were taught to defend our clients. 28 years ago this month, marion barry was elected for his third term. I was a partner at a law firm and i was asked to meet with marion barry and talk to him office of the attorney general. I seemed i could sit down and talk to marion barry and explain to him how he could fix his law office. My arrogance did not prepare me for the force of nature that was marion barry. When i sat down and talked to him, he explained to me in such a clear, pure way his theory that government was the instrument of social change and that we can make a profound difference in the lives of citizens of the District Of Columbia. I quit my job and enlisted in the i quit my job and enlisted in the barry army. His visionvered from of using government as a tool to make a profound difference in lives of citizens. He clearly was a champion for the least among us but he also was a champion for people who had abilities that could achieve more. Like to leaveld you with is the idea that in a proper a proverb, we should not lament the fact that mr. Barry is gone, we should rejoice in the fact he was with us. My take away is im going to continue to live my life and wise the woman in ways that in theke a difference lives of people in the District Of Columbia as marion barry tommy