have in terms of the policies that republicans have embraced over the last few decades. >> professor cobb, you wrote martin luther king jr. spoke of the intransigent optimism that led activists to fight for change in the face of skepticism about what could actually be achieved. and that is where we stand tonight. skepticism that you can get those votes in the united states senate to change that rule that will have to be changed in order to pass anything. >> yeah, i want to start by saying that i am a graduate of harvard for the purpose of this conversation. i decided to not hold it against professor glaude he is a morehouse man. but significantly, you know, martin luther king jr. himself a morehouse graduate did, when he talked about the voting rights speech in 1965, he placed this in terms that would be