but at the same time we have to realize we live in a society where in some neighborhoods it s easier for a black man to get a gun than an education. we have to realize that there are systemic factors in mass incarceration and other things that are systemically destroying black families all across america. and so i think as president of the united states, i think this program can be amazing, it can be extraordinary. but my question to the president would be, you ve got allies, friends in chicago like father michael flagler fighting the battle every single day. not just for glory to get votes but because he cares. are you giving him resources he needs to keep doing what he s doing? if you want to learn how to plant flowers you should go talk to the gardner and help him buy more seeds. what are the resources being put into this program? that s one of the next questions i would ask. reverend johnson, the president also talked today about high unemployment rate for african-american men, a
don t tell. he s gone out of his way to make sure that he kind of engages with particular communities to say, i understand you. i feel your pain. and i want to help you. and i think that now but there may have been some aversion to doing that in the race question because it s already complicated with his presidency. but now i think that it s getting to a point where he feels so stymied on other bigger issues that he cannot get around to things that reverend johnson, you wrote an op ed last year where you said president obama was a president for everyone except black people. do his actions today in your opinion change certainly how you feel? well, i ve always loved the president. i think he s doing an outstanding job. and even today when i looked at the fact that he had those persons of color around him, the young men and the fact that he has begun this initiative, it says to me that the president really not only cares about these young men but he cares about america.
elated. i m excited at the fact that the president instead of us being invisible he brought us to the forefront and he is helping to light a torch that hopefully that torch will be taken to the cities of philadelphia, taken to the cities of atlanta, new york, and everywhere else so that we can light this lamp. i m a preacher so i got to say it. we ve got to let our light shine. and i thank god for the president for moving forward today. preach it. reverend, thank you very much. amen. reverend johnson, thank you. appreciate the panel. because this is such a rich conversation we re devoting an hour to it later tonight. called my brother s keeper, don lemon s special report. see it here 11:00 p.m. eastern time on cnn. also as always still more on the story and others go to cnn.com. coming up, rising tension in ukraine. armed men seize a government building, raise the russian flag. a direct challenge to ukraine s new leaders. there s a lot of russian troops on the border you should
graduating class of all male african-americans. but it was not without controversy. the day before his address, an outspoken critic of the president, pastor kevin johnson was invited, disinvited and reinvited again. he led the class in prayer. a time like this demands strong minds, great hearts, truth faith and ready hands. leaders like martin and malcolm, like sojourner and tubman, like washington and due boys, like gandhi and mandela and, yes, god, even leaders like our beloved president barack hussein obama. reverend johnson joins me now. i want to start with the fact that you praised the president there along with other important african-american leaders but the controversy over your speaking at morehouse stemmed from the scathing editorial you penned in the philadelphia tribune. i want to show a part of it. you said in sum when one
speech. it s something that i would share with my 12-year-old son, miles, who was there with me and who was there watching the graduates of 500 black men come into the grounds for graduation. it was great. but at the same time you have to ask the question should we have kept this in a kind of closed door kind of setting? particularly when some of the things that were played out and as i look at the headlines that are out there, you do have to raise the question should we have talked about this more in a closed setting versus something in an open setting? i do think the president is right, we do have to take responsibility, our young men do have to hold themselves accountable, but at the same time the larger community of america thinks that people are not responsible, that african-american men are not responsible and this is morehouse. it is the black harvard. and so these are men who are already taking responsibility, already who are leaders and who are already going to do great things