- [Gov.

Kathy Hochul] I'm Governor Kathy Hochul, and I'm proud to welcome you to New York State's annual celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Today, as we remember Dr. King's timeless teachings, we strive to honor his legacy and ensure that his great sacrifice is never taken for granted.

As the daughter of social justice Catholics, Dr. King's message of nonviolence was a constant presence in our home.

My parents taught me to be kind and compassionate, to see all as equal, and to fight fiercely on the side of righteousness.

These are the values that guided Dr. King, who taught us that hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that.

It's the responsibility of every New Yorker to carry the torch of justice and equality to keep Dr. King's dream alive right here and now.

Let me leave you with these powerful words from Dr. King's last speech.

"We've got to give ourselves to the struggle until the end.

Nothing would be more tragic than to stop at this point."

We will never stop, not now, not ever.

(thunder rumbling) - [Dr. King] Something is happening in our world.

Trouble is in the land.

Confusion all around.

(uncertain music) But I know, somehow, that only when it is dark enough can you see the stars.

- [Narrator] On April 3, 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. stood inside the Mason Temple in Memphis, Tennessee.

Outside, a wild storm lashed the streets.

- [Jason Sokol] The whole thing was dramatic.

There were 3,000 people who had braved the storm and who seemed to be hanging on every word.

- [Jonathan Eig] They had never heard him give quite this same speech.

He summarized his whole life.

He summarized the history of the Civil Rights Movement, and he seemed unusually emotional.

- [Dr. King] Well, I don't know what will happen now.

We've got some difficult days ahead.

But it really doesn't matter with me now.

Because I've been to the mountaintop.

(audience cheering) - [Jason Sokol] It almost seems as though he has seen into the future.

He has a premonition of his own death.

- [Dr. King] Like anybody, I would like to live a long life.

Longevity has its place.

But I'm not concerned about that now.

And I've looked over.

And I've seen the promised land.

I may not get there with you.

But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land.

- [Jason Sokol] He delivered what would be the final speech of his life.

He urged the crowd to persevere even if it was without him.

- [Dr. King] So I'm happy tonight.

I'm not worried about anything.

I'm not fearing any man.

Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.

- [Jason Sokol] The crowd went wild.

They wanted to push forward.

They wanted to realize that dream of the promised land.

- [Narrator] In just over 24 hours, Dr. King's prophecy would come true.

A lone gunman had traveled across the country and was waiting for him.

- [Jonathan Eig] King was at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis.

He had no idea that there was someone stalking him - a man across the parking lot with a rifle and a scope.

(tense music) - [Jason Sokol] He was sharing a room with Ralph Abernathy.

They were going to go to dinner at the home of Rev.

Billy Kyles.

King was perpetually late, and so Abernathy picked up the phone, and he had Billy Kyle sort of repeat the menu to try to incentivize King to get out the door and get going.

- [Jonathan Eig] He went out onto the balcony to talk to some of his friends who were down in the parking lot.

Jesse Jackson was down there.

And Jesse and King hadn't been getting along that well, but King invited him to come to dinner that night.

Then King's driver said, "You know, Doc, you should go back and get an overcoat.

It's going to be chilly tonight."

And King said, "Ok, I will," and he turned.

(bullet booming) And that's when he was struck by the bullet.

(tense music) - [Sen. Robert Kennedy] I have some very sad news for all of you.

- [Robert Moseley] Martin Luther King ... - [Sen. Robert Kennedy] Martin Luther King ... - [Pres.

Lyndon B. Johnson] Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. ... has been struck down.

- [Sen. Robert Kennedy] ... was shot and was killed.

- [Robert Moseley] ... 20 minutes ago he died.

(audience screaming) - [Jonathan Eig] When the news made clear that King was dead, cities all over America burst into flames.

- [Reporter 1] The looting, vandalism, and burning began in the afternoon.

- [Reporter 2] Six days of rioting in the Negro section of Los Angeles.

- [Reporter 3] Looting and arson rocked the city of Detroit.

- [Reporter 4] Several deaths have been reported.

- [Reporter] Even the nation's capital was seared.

- [Narrator] More than 100 cities across America descended into civil unrest.

Hundreds of buildings were burned, thousands of people were arrested, and more than 40 lost their lives.

- [Citizen] We are very upset today because we lost somebody like a father.

We've lost something, and we feel it deeply.

- [Interviewer] How do you think we might heal this wound?

- [Sammy Davis Jr.] I haven't got the answers to that, but I know it's going to take love and respect for the man who was slain.

- [Dr. King's Assistant] All right, keep going.

- [Onlooker] Let me shake your hand.

- [Dr. King] All right, be glad to.

- [Narrator] His death echoed out into every corner of the United States.

This was the greatest activist in American history, and all of a sudden, he was gone.

The question for America was, what to do next?

On Dr. King's final night on Earth, with thunder in the skies, he gave us the answer.

He told us, we may not get to the promised land together, but we must press on, even if it is without him.

- [Jonathan Eig] King showed us the way.

He got us as far as he did, and then it's up to us to continue.

- [Narrator] For every badge of mainstream success that King collected, he received an equal measure of scorn.

Yet, he never gave up.

He persevered.

- [Jason Sokol] If he saw injustice lingering, he felt he had to address it.

I mean, that was the work he had committed himself to, and he was going to keep doing it.

- [Narrator] There are New Yorkers all around us who refuse to accept things as they are.

They press on.

They persevere.

Like King, they dedicate their lives to change.

Each fights for their own reason, and that reason fuels their commitment to change.

They light the way for us all, proving that progress is not the work of one, but of many.

- [Dr. King] We've got to give ourselves to this struggle until the end.

Nothing would be more tragic than to stop at this point.

We've got to see it through.

(audience applauding) (cathartic music) (no audio) (gentle pensive music) - [Narrator] Moments like Dr. King's assassination force us to make a choice: retreat or respond.

In New York City, singer Nina Simone chose to respond.

Her music turned sorrow into action.

"Our very survival," Dr. King wrote, "depends on our ability to stay awake and to face the challenge of change."

Simone understood this challenge.

She used her voice to ensure we would not turn away.

- [Nina Simone, "Oh, Dey's So Fresh and Fine"] ♪ They're so ♪ ♪ soft and fine... ♪ - [Alan Light] Like so many Americans in the aftermath of Dr. King's murder, Nina Simone was devastated.

(plaintive music) She once said, "I must have cried for two weeks."

- [Nina Simone] We want to do a tune written for today for Dr. Martin Luther King.

- [Alan Light] Just days after Dr. King's murder, she performs this song on stage, and it's obviously something that's been written just within the last 48 hours or so.

- [Nina Simone, "Why?

(The King of Love is Dead)"] ♪ Once upon this planet Earth ♪ ♪ Lived a man of humble birth ♪ ♪ Preaching love and freedom ♪ ♪ for his fellow man ♪ - [Alan Light] The song called "Why?

(The King of Love is Dead)" - it's so raw.

It is so intensely emotional.

- [Nina Simone, "Why?

(The King of Love is Dead)"] ♪ Will my country ♪ ♪ fall, stand or fall?

♪ ♪ Is it too late for us all?

♪ - [Alan Light] It's this remarkable real-time reporting of what people were feeling in the immediate aftermath.

- [Nina Simone, "Why?

(The King of Love is Dead)"] ♪ Folks, you'd better stop and think ♪ ♪ Everybody knows ♪ we're on the brink ♪ - [Alan Light] The title of the song is "Why?"

I mean, we're starting from a question, and it doesn't feel definitive.

It feels like, "This is what I'm going through.

This is what we're all going through."

- [Nina Simone, "Why?

(The King of Love is Dead)"] ♪ What will happen, ♪ ♪ now that the king of love ♪ ♪ is dead?

♪ (audience applauding) - [Alan Light] Dr. King's death was pivotal for Nina Simone.

It was transformational.

But she was certainly not a born activist.

So, through the early 1960s, her star is rising.

The whole scene around what's happening in Greenwich Village, the folk music explosion, what's happening with jazz, and she's very much at the center of all of that.

And she does pull off headlining Carnegie Hall in 1963.

Nina is wildly excited to be playing Carnegie Hall.

This is a lifelong dream, and she absolutely nails that performance.

But that very same night in Birmingham, Alabama, Martin Luther King is arrested and jailed.

Lorraine Hansberry, the playwright, who Nina had gotten very close to, informed her what had happened in Birmingham and essentially pled with her, "What are you doing with this platform?

There are important things happening in the world that artists need to be speaking to."

(explosion roaring) - [Reporter] On Sunday, September 15, 1963, a bomb exploded in Birmingham's 16th Street Baptist Church.

Four children were killed and several adults injured.

- [Alan Light] She said, "When they killed those children is when I said, 'I have to start using my talent to help Black people.'"

That is the moment that Nina feels compelled to act.

- [Nina Simone, "Mississippi Goddam"] ♪ Alabama's gotten me so upset ♪ ♪ Tennessee made me lose my rest ♪ ♪ Everybody knows about ♪ Mississippi Goddam ♪ - [Alan Light] It was a real-time snapshot of her fury and her outrage about this moment and this tragedy.

- [Nina Simone, "Mississippi Goddam"] ♪ Picket lines, school boycotts ♪ ♪ They try to say it's a communist plot ♪ ♪ But all I want is equality ♪ ♪ for my sister, my brother, ♪ my people, and me ♪ - [Alan Light] "Mississippi Goddam" was a line in the sand.

- [Nina Simone, "Mississippi Goddam"] ♪ Oh, but my country's full of lies ♪ ♪ We all gonna die and die like flies ♪ ♪ I don't trust nobody anymore ♪ ♪ They keep on saying, 'Go slow' ♪ - [Alan Light] There was no going back.

The role that she now played in music, in the movement - she was in a completely different place.

- [Nina Simone] That's it!

(audience applauds) I choose to reflect the times and the situations in which I find myself.

That, to me, is my duty.

And at this crucial time in our lives, when everything is so desperate, when every day is a matter of survival, I don't think you can help but be involved.

- [Alan Light] She became known for "Mississippi Goddam" as a signature song, and then she meets Martin Luther King.

She went right up to him and said, "I support your work, but I want you to know that I am not nonviolent."

Which he laughed and said, you know, "Everybody's welcome in their way."

He wanted her anyway.

Nina Simone's music was central to the Civil Rights Movement.

There's a quote from Andrew Young, the civil rights leader, who says, "Nina's records were the soundtrack for the Civil Rights Movement.

When we would go knocking on doors, that was what we heard playing when we opened the door."

- [Nina Simone, "Four Women"] ♪ And my back is strong ♪ - [Alan Light] She wasn't on the pop charts, but in the lives of that community, this music was absolutely central and essential.

- [Nina Simone] An artist's duty as far as I'm concerned, is to reflect the times.

How can you be an artist and not reflect the times?

That to me is the definition of an artist.

- [Nina Simone, "Young, Gifted, and Black"] ♪ To be young, gifted, and Black ♪ ♪ Oh, how I long to know the truth ♪ - [Alan Light] There are people who see injustice, and it becomes a part of them, and they can't run from it.

And I think that Nina Simone was one of those people.

As Nina said, "All my songs have razor cuts."

- [Nina Simone, "Young, Gifted, and Black"] ♪ There's a world, little girl, waiting for you ♪ ♪ Yours is the quest that's just begun ♪ - [Alan Light] There's no question that Nina Simone paid a price for the things that she was singing and saying, onstage and offstage.

You do that knowing that's not the thing that's going to get you on "The Johnny Carson Show."

That's not the thing that's going to get you the toothpaste endorsement.

And that was hard for her because she did have that ambition.

We find our inspiration from the figures who fight through struggle and don't get everything that they were looking for and then keep looking for more.

- [Nina Simone, "Young, Gifted, and Black"] ♪ To be young, gifted, and Black, ♪ ♪ Hey, it is where it's at ♪ (audience cheering) - [Alan Light] When you think of what somebody like Nina Simone was setting out to achieve, how do you live on this Earth and do that when the purpose is so big, and yet that's the work that you continue to pursue?

That's the flame that keeps burning.

That's why we go back and look again and again.

- [Nina Simone] I never intend for my children to look at me and be ashamed and say, "Mama, why didn't you do something?"

I will have done mine.

- [Nina Simone, "Young, Gifted, and Black"] ♪ Young, gifted, and Black ♪ ♪ Is where it's at, ♪ ♪ Is where it's at, ♪ ♪ Is where it's at ♪ - [Nina Simone] Hold on, hold on!

Hold on!

Hold on!

Hold on!

(gentle music) - [Narrator] Why do we keep fighting for justice even when it feels impossible?

Dr. King once said, "We are not makers of history.

We are made by history."

He believed that understanding the past gives us the power to shape a better future.

- [Chancellor John B.

King Jr.] We press on by drawing on the strength of those on whose shoulders we stand.

- [Narrator] At the Hamilton Hill Arts Center in Schenectady, Miki and Rachel Conn continue this legacy.

They reclaim the stories of their ancestors, using history not as a relic, but as a living force for justice and pride.

(intriguing music) - [Walter Simpkins] Well, children, I just want to welcome everybody.

I'm Moses Viney.

I'm a runaway slave, and you'll see my name on this grave, but I died in 1909.

This is a special place.

This is Schenectady.

I didn't even know how to pronounce it, but I got here, and they said, "Moses, you've arrived."

I might've started off as a slave, but I died a businessman.

You can hear a lot of stories about a lot of great people, but if you're not included in the story, you have to find a way to write your own.

- [Event Host] Tonight, our featured storyteller is Miki Conn. Miki is a poet, an author, an educator, a community organizer, and can't wait to hear what she has to share.

- [Miki Conn] Stories.

Stories give you strength and teach you who you are.

(audience applauding) Good evening, everyone.

- [Audience Member 1] Good evening.

- [Audience Member 2] Evening.

- [Miki Conn] We're going to tell you our story of the Hamilton Hill Arts Center, a Black-led community and arts center where we teach African American culture.

- [Rachel Conn] It's important to teach kids African American history because it's often left out.

- [Miki Conn] And when you know your history, you can look to the past to find strength.

As for our own history, our family has been running the Arts Center for 54 years.

- [Rachel Conn] The Arts Center was founded by my grandmother.

- [Miki Conn] My mother.

- [Rachel Conn] Margaret Cunningham.

- [Miki Conn] I was the director.

- [Rachel Conn] And I am the director today.

Our family has given everything to the Arts Center.

It's part of who we are.

- [Miki Conn] Martin Luther King had just been killed.

I was actively involved in the Civil Rights Movement at that time.

My mother needed to think about how could she contribute from Schenectady.

- [Rachel Conn] The Hamilton Hill neighborhood has often been neglected.

- [Miki Conn] It was essentially the slum of Schenectady.

- [Rachel Conn] It's considered to be a Black neighborhood.

It's considered to be violent.

- [Miki Conn] It was the area where children were not getting the services or the opportunities that they needed, and so she felt that was a place that she could make a contribution.

- [Instructor] Everybody, come on in.

Run on in and find a spot for yourself.

Everybody come on in.

Let's go.

Simon says, put your hands over top of your head.

Simon says, put your hands like this.

Simon says, clap your hands.

Bring this arm up.

If you brought this arm up, sit down.

OK. Simon says... - [Miki Conn] We hold after-school programs and summer programs for children, community-wide events, and we bring people together.

- [Rachel Conn] We serve approximately 200 children a year.

The impact is exponential.

In generations, 200 becomes thousands.

(gentle music) (performer speaking in a world language) (singers singing in a world language) (singers continue singing in a world language) - [Rachel Conn] Today, we're having our 24th annual Juneteenth Celebration.

It's the celebration of freedom from slavery.

We are honoring our past, how far we've come, and celebrating our present and our road for the future.

- [Miki Conn] I did want to take a peek at the Capoeira.

- [Friend] Oh, OK. Oh, yeah.

- [Miki Conn] Oh, wow.

(percussion music) - [Rachel Conn] Our mission is to promote the art and culture of the African Diaspora.

To restore our community to a sense of wholeness.

(gentle upbeat music) - [Miki Conn] We draw strength from our ancestors in their perseverance, and we've needed that strength.

Hamilton Hill has always been underinvested in, redlined, and seen as a place to avoid.

Black communities don't receive the same funds and opportunities as white ones, but if our ancestors could keep going, so can we.

- [Jessica Hunter] When I was 13 years old, a friend of mine in middle school brought me over to the Arts Center.

We did dance classes for a couple weeks, and then she eventually fell off, and I decided to stay.

I wanted to be anywhere but home.

Home was not a fun place to be.

The Arts Center was sort of like the cure for that.

- [Attendee] Yeah!

- [Jessica Hunter] I've been connected to the Arts Center for about 21 years.

- [Child 1] I do not know.

- [Child 2] Yeah!

- [Jessica Hunter] Alright, so here where we pick up the bottom, put it over the top, and now I do it for all of them until there's one loop on every one of them.

The role that our ancestors play is role models.

They're the role models for how to pull yourself up when you have nothing.

And unfortunately for us, we're still in those situations.

A lot of these kids don't have anything, and so they need role models for people who have built something out of nothing to look to.

- [Rachel Conn] I often find myself having to justify why we focus on the art and culture of the African Diaspora.

People have asked, you know, why don't we just be an after-school program and take it out of our mission.

You don't hear people asking, "Why the Italian Community Center?

Why the Jewish Community Center?

Why celebrate your culture?

Why celebrate your names, your languages, your skills?"

It's most commonly asked of us.

That narrative that we are worth less is so strong that people can't hear when they're saying it.

It is why we exist and what we are here to combat.

There's this Yoruba story about Oshun, the goddess of creativity.

All of the entities came to create the earth, and everything that they created failed because they left out Oshun.

When they involved this spirit of nurturing, of creativity, of beauty, things we're able to come together.

And that is the role that the Arts Center plays in the community.

We bring that art.

We bring that culture.

We allow the community that stability.

My commitment to this community, it's my love letter to my ancestors.

- [Walter Simpkins] When I put on this hat, this cane, and these gloves, it's transformational, and it's inspiring for me because he was here, and he left a legacy for us to follow.

I got to do great things.

No matter where you begin, you can do anything.

All you got to do is believe, and I'm a believer, and I'm believing that we're making a difference just by being here.

(joyful music) (energetic music) - [Narrator] How do we find pride and purpose in the face of challenge?

Dr. King wrote, "We are tied in a single garment of destiny."

He believed that when one group is ignored, we all fall behind.

- [Jonathan Eig] All mankind is tied up together in an inescapable network of mutuality.

We're in it together.

- [Narrator] In New York City, chef and food historian Von Diaz highlights the overlooked role of Latinos in the Civil Rights Movement.

Through the story of the plantain, she shows how this humble ingredient became a symbol of resilience and pride, reminding us that progress demands every voice be heard.

(laid-back music) - [Von Diaz] Islands have always fascinated me.

From the Caribbean to the Pacific, they're cradles of culture and home to bold, unforgettable flavors.

Limes, coconuts, mangoes - they're more than just food.

They're history on a plate.

You might not think of Manhattan as an island, but it is.

You can't walk five, ten feet without finding delicious island food.

(ocean waves lapping) (energetic upbeat music) I'm Von Diaz, a chef, food historian, and cookbook author.

I've spent my life traveling across islands learning their cuisines, and I'm from an island myself: Puerto Rico.

Writing my cookbook, "Islas," was a true privilege because I love the island where I'm from, and I traveled the world visiting other islands.

Manhattan may not be my first home, but it's where food became my way of life.

(horns honking) Today, I'm going to tell the story of the plantain.

(Von laughs and speaks in Spanish) Its journey is deeply tied to resilience and cultural pride in ways you might not expect.

So, plantains are probably the most recognizable ingredient from the Caribbean.

The history of the plantain began with trauma.

Spanish and African traders brought plantains on slave ships as food for enslaved people.

Plantains were considered the lowest food, the bare minimum for survival.

But from this dark beginning, something unexpected would grow.

Plantains are known in Latin as "Musa sapientum," or "the wise fruit."

They grow without needing to be replanted.

As long as their roots remain strong, they send up new shoots, season after season.

But the most extraordinary part of the plantain's story isn't just its resilience.

It's how it was transformed.

The descendants of those enslaved people didn't just accept this humble food as something forced on them.

Instead, they claimed it as their own, reinventing it as a vital part of their cultural identity.

And so, plantains slowly over time have evolved from being a food that was expressly for impoverished people to one that is considered one of the most prized.

I feel deeply connected to plantains.

They are a staple of Puerto Rican cooking.

So, they thought they were giving us garbage, but they were actually giving us gold, plátano gold.

Transforming simple ingredients into something nourishing reflects the ethos of the Civil Rights Movement, where ordinary people came together to create extraordinary change.

(festive music) People often forget that Latinos played a key role in the Civil Rights Era.

Dr. King recognized that the struggles faced by Black and Latino communities were interconnected, so he sought out Latino leaders.

One of those leaders was Gilberto Gerena Valentín, president of the New York Puerto Rican Day Parade.

As Valentín recalled, "Dr. King invited me to talk about the march.

He asked me to organize Latinos, and so I did."

At the March on Washington, thousands of Latinos joined the crowd, including many Puerto Ricans from New York City.

From the same stage where Dr. King would later deliver his "I Have a Dream" speech, Gilberto Gerena Valentín addressed the crowd in Spanish, condemning the discrimination faced by Puerto Ricans and Hispanics.

But despite this historic moment, major news outlets ignored Valentín's participation, leaving the role Latinos played that day untold.

Valentín was one of many Latino voices that shaped the Civil Rights Movement, yet history overlooked him.

I want to reclaim these stories, to tell them fully, and to show how people like Valentín, and even humble ingredients like the plantain, can be transformed into symbols of identity and pride.

(mellow music) There are endless ways to cook plantains.

Mofongo is easily the most famous dish of Puerto Rico.

In the U.S., you most often see them as tostones, which are fried green plantains, all kinds of chips, and, of course, sweet plantains, or maduros.

Delicious.

Today, I'm going to make my grandmother's mofongo.

It was one of my favorite things that she prepared when I was young.

So, mofongo is essentially fried plantains that are smashed with garlic and salt.

(pestle clanging) Of all the foods that I would eat when I would go to Puerto Rico to visit my grandmother, mofongo is probably the one that I remember the most.

Not just because it is delicious, but because it was so unique.

(pestle clanging) Plátanos and mofongo are my food.

They are central to my history and core to my being.

(gentle music) Food brings people together.

But it's more than just taste or tradition.

It carries the stories of survival, adaptation, and identity.

So, I prepared this mofongo in the way that my grandmother typically prepared it.

It's a little bit lighter.

It's served with this lemongrass shrimp broth.

I'm so grateful for y'all.

Thank you.

Thank you for being here.

- [Guest] Thank you.

- [Von Diaz] Truly, truly.

The plantain's journey mirrors the fight for civil rights.

What began as a tool of oppression became a source of strength and pride, a symbol of how people can transform hardship into something beautiful.

When I cook dishes inspired by my Puerto Rican heritage and share them with my loved ones in New York, I'm adding to that story and shaping the plantain's legacy.

Plantains remind us that even from dark beginnings, we can grow toward the light.

(upbeat music) (expectant upbeat music) - [Narrator] Why is representation important, and when is the right time to fight for it?

Dr. King reminded us that progress isn't inevitable.

It comes through the tireless efforts and the persistent work of dedicated individuals, and that the time is always right to do right.

In 2024, the State University of New York launched the Black Leadership Institute to elevate Black academics so they may truly represent the diversity of their students.

- [Chancellor John B.

King Jr.] Having diversity in our leadership is crucial to the health of our democracy and the future of the country.

I'm the chancellor of the State University of New York, and we're building programs to develop a diverse pipeline of leadership talent because you have to see it to believe it.

- [Tamara Frazier] Oh.

- [Videographer] It's right here.

- [DeeDee M. Bennett Gayle] Any wayward locks?

- [Tamara Frazier] What was the question again?

- [DeeDee M. Bennett Gayle] OK, great.

I don't remember what I was talking about.

- [Danielle Lee] Oh, are you OK?

(laughs) - [Adeoba David Oyero] Sorry for all the hand gestures.

(laughs) - [Deedee M. Bennett Gayle] (laughs) Yeah.

(clears throat) - [Interviewer] What did you want to be when you grew up?

- [Adeoba David Oyero] When I was a kid, I wanted to be a cop.

- [Danielle Lee] I wanted to fight the mob.

- [Tamara Frazier] I always wanted to be a lawyer.

- [DeeDee M. Bennett Gayle] I got to high school and determined that I wanted to be an engineer.

- [Adeoba David Oyero] Just a little background about me, both my parents were from Nigeria.

- [Danielle Lee] I grew up in very, let's just say, humble beginnings, where there was a lot of drugs, a lot of violence.

- [Tamara Frazier] True story, I was actually rejected from law school.

- [DeeDee M. Bennett Gayle] The guidance counselor was very clear about telling me that they didn't think I could do it.

- [Tamara Frazier] And so, I called up the law school, and I said, "I think you made a mistake."

- [DeeDee M. Bennett Gayle] I guess I'm a little bit of a rebel because I only applied to the engineering schools.

- [Tamara Frazier] I felt that they needed to know that, "No, I belong here."

- [Adeoba David Oyero] My name is Adeoba David Oyero.

- [Danielle Lee] Danielle Lee.

- [DeeDee M. Bennett Gayle] DeeDee Bennett Gayle.

- [Adeoba David Oyero] I am part of the first cohort for the SUNY Black Leadership Institute.

- [Tamara Frazier] My name is Tamara Frazier.

I am the Executive Director of the SUNY Black Leadership Institute.

The SUNY Black Leadership Institute is an immersive leadership experience geared toward professionals across our 64 campuses.

Currently, the leadership at our campuses does not reflect the diversity of our student body statewide.

The goal of BLI is to take leaders who already have great skills and give them even more refined competencies to help them soar.

- [Adeoba David Oyero] If I had to teach somebody about leadership, I would tell them what it is not.

It's not power.

- [Danielle Lee] It's not always about the ... - [DeeDee M. Bennett Gayle] Good leaders are not looking for people to just say, "Yes."

- [Adeoba David Oyero] Did you bring the people who were there with you along with you?

Do they also feel success?

So, if I'm not doing that, then honestly, I'm not a leader, nor am I doing my job.

- [DeeDee M. Bennett Gayle] There are a lot of times that I've had barriers.

- [Danielle Lee] Racism, misogyny, ableism, right?

- [DeeDee M. Bennett Gayle] And I would not be able to tell you if it was because I was Black or a woman or if it was because I was a Black woman.

- [Adeoba David Oyero] The biggest challenge I face because the color of my skin is literally the color of my skin.

- [Danielle Lee] What you're not going to do, (laughs) right, is marginalize me and not think I don't know that that's happening.

- [Adeoba David Oyero] I think the Black Leadership Institute allows for those conversations to happen, for us to be able to voice those things and come together to improve those conditions.

- [Tamara Frazier] I would feel that if Dr. Martin Luther King was here, he would be proud of the work that we're doing because we're trying to change the trajectory of leadership at the higher educational landscape.

- [Danielle Lee] I don't cringe or get anxiety when I say I'm a leader now.

The experience has taught me how to own it in such delicious ways.

- [DeeDee M. Bennett Gayle] Continue without ceasing.

- [Adeoba David Oyero] Let's build this thing so that we as a group are also part of the community.

We're not being tolerated.

We are part of it.

- [Danielle Lee] I'm a very powerful Black woman, I'll say it.

- [Tamara Frazier] We have to run this race with integrity.

We have to run this race knowing that we don't know when our last breath is going to be, and so we have to wake up every day and do our work with intention.

- [Adeoba David Oyero] I think it's important for especially my young African American students to see people like us in these positions so that they understand that they can be there.

- [Chancellor John B.

King Jr.] Leaders can affect change at every level.

We're working to develop a set of leaders who will empower their communities to make a difference in the lives of individuals.

That happened for me.

I'm sitting here because of a 4th grade teacher who intervened and saved my life.

When my mom passed, my dad was very sick, home was incredibly difficult, he made the difference for me.

That's why I'm here today.

We are trying to empower a group of leaders who can make that individual difference in countless lives.

(curious upbeat music) - [Narrator] At the heart of his activism, Dr. King emphasized the need for inclusivity.

Yet in his lifetime, he did not embrace the LGBTQ+ community.

- [Jonathan Eig] King was not receptive to gay rights.

When he had an advice column, someone wrote in and said that he thought he was gay, and he didn't know what to do about it.

And King said, "It's not good.

You need to get help."

- [Narrator] He was a product of his times and influenced by the same conservative attitudes as many of his peers.

Yet, interestingly, one of his closest advisors was Bayard Rustin, a gay man.

Their bond shows how Dr. King could embrace a friend while still struggling with the larger complexities of LGBTQ+ rights.

Today, gay and trans activists, like Sean Anthony and Xo'Lei Moon in Buffalo, take inspiration from his relentless pursuit of equality for all.

(gentle expectant music) - [Sean Anthony] When I walk into a room, I walk with my head held high.

I make eye contact.

I strut through the room like I'm Beyoncé.

- [Xo'Lei Moon] There's a lot of drama that comes in ballroom.

It kind of has created a monster.

(laughs) - [Sean Anthony] It's the confidence.

It's the style.

It's the grace.

It's how you carry yourself.

You got to throw that spice and that attitude.

- [Xo'Lei Moon] The people around you say that that's horrible.

That you shouldn't dress like that.

You shouldn't look like that.

You shouldn't act like that.

This is not a costume.

I don't take this off and lay down as a boy.

- [Sean Anthony] I walk into a room, and this is my room.

"I'm here.

Hello, everyone.

Nice to meet you."

- [Xo'Lei Moon] I'm a human.

You're a human.

We're normal.

We still need to fight for acceptance.

We still need to fight for civil rights.

(energetic music) (energetic music continues) (intriguing music) - [Sean Anthony] My name is Sean Anthony, also known as Salsa Dior Garçon.

- [Xo'Lei Moon] I'm Xo'Lei Moon, formally known as WNY Mother Xo'Lei Dior.

- [Sean Anthony] I want to welcome you to good old Buffalo, the City of Good Neighbors.

Welcome, welcome.

(audience cheering) - [Emcee] Y'all came here to see Vogue Buffalo, right?

- [Audience] Yeah!

(audience applauds) - [Sean Anthony] Vogue Buffalo was founded by a good friend of mine, and I joined in.

I seen what they were doing, and I wanted to elevate it.

- [Xo'Lei Moon] I'm ready to get this ball started.

Is that what y'all came for?

(audience cheering) Yes, I love it.

Vogue Buffalo is an organization that teaches about the history and the preservation of ballroom.

- [Sean Anthony] The competitions is called a ball, so we walk balls, we compete in balls, and we mentor the youth.

It's just a room full of people who are on a journey of self-discovery and wanting to put themselves on a platform to be seen because a lot of times we don't feel seen.

- [Dr. King] Don't allow anybody to make you feel that you are nobody.

Always feel that you count.

Always feel that you have worth and always feel that your life has ultimate significance.

(energetic music) - [Sean Anthony] Poses are very, very important in ballroom.

There is hands, spins and dips, duckwalk, floor performance, and catwalk.

- [Xo'Lei Moon] It's all about the fluidity and the story you tell with your hands and the movements.

- [Sean Anthony] If you're not passionate about it, you're never going to win a ball.

You're never going to walk away with a trophy.

You could look like a frog and be the most confident frog out there.

(laughs) People are automatically going to respect you because you're comfortable and confident in your skin.

- [Xo’Lei Moon] This shirt is the legendary Yolanda Jourdan.

I like to consider myself the Yolanda of ballroom.

I am an Afro-Latino who is very overlooked and underrated as the Doll was.

I feel empowered by a lot of the trans women from the particular '90s, early 2000s era, the hot girls, the it girls.

I definitely do consider myself an activist.

I am very outspoken when it comes to certain issues, and I think our biggest thing as LGBTQ+ people is we want to humanize ourselves.

We want to eliminate the creepy creature ideologies that people have of us.

What really inspired me was like, the authenticity, like, the ability to be trans and to be sexy and to know it and to own it in a room full of people who may or may not be like you, or may or may not understand.

- [Sean Anthony] We do have our struggles.

We do have our tragedies that we encounter.

- [Xo'Lei Moon] I am the first trans person in my entire family, father and mother's side.

During my beginning stages, I did not accept myself.

My hatred came from not being able to pass or to be able to walk into a room and not really get stared at or not really get ridiculed.

- [Sean Anthony] I struggled in high school.

I dealt with bullying.

I've dealt with physical violence, times where I've had to literally just run because there's five people chasing me.

I wasn't out to my family yet.

It's not like I could go home and be like, "Hey, Mom, these guys tried to jump me because I'm gay.

Come help me."

I just had to go in my room and just move on.

- [Xo'Lei Moon] At the time of my transition, I didn't feel accepted by my family particularly.

"What possessed you to do this?

Like, are you demonically possessed?"

Also, not gendering me properly, not calling me by my name, it was hard.

I had to rip the doors off the hinges for all of us.

- [Sean Anthony] One thing that I always remember from being a teenager and coming out was a family member telling me, "Oh, this isn't the life I would've chosen for you."

But who says you get to choose my life?

Like, this is who I am.

I just knew I couldn't give up.

I knew that if I gave up that, that was it.

- [Xo'Lei Moon] I just wanted to be heard as an individual.

I just wanted somebody like me to tell me it was going to be OK.

It was life or death for me, kind of.

That's kind of a touchy subject.

(Xo'Lei sniffling) (plaintive music) - [Dr. King] You know, a lot of people don't love themselves.

They go through life with deep and haunting emotional conflict.

So the length of life means that you must love yourself.

And you know what loving yourself also means?

It means that you've got to accept yourself.

- [Audience] Right.

- [Dr. King] I have a rich, noble, and proud heritage.

However exploited and however painful my history has been, I am somebody.

- [Audience Member] That's right, all right.

(energetic music) - [Xo'Lei Moon] Ballroom is how a lot of us found the confidence that we hold in who we are.

Here is a room full of people celebrating this person, however they identify, dressed fluidly and flailing around in the most flamboyant way.

And they're screaming and cheering for them, and it's like, "Wait a minute.

This is something that is like, OK, like, there is a community and a sense of family for this."

- [Steve Leyro] Once I came into this world, it changed my life.

My family won't never understand what we go through.

Stuff that we can't communicate with the real world, with our family, we can communicate with this world.

- [Sean Anthony] Hi, everyone.

Welcome back to Vogue Buffalo: Vogue and Runway Classes.

(all clapping) - [Xo'Lei Moon] Every Thursday, Vogue Buffalo, which consists of myself and Sean Anthony, we teach the elements of voguing.

We teach the elements of runway.

- [Sean Anthony] OK!

- [Xo'Lei Moon] All natural.

- [Sean Anthony] All natural, all day, everyday realness.

- [Steve Leyro] They accept everybody.

They want everybody to come and enjoy who they are.

- [Sean Anthony] Hello!

(laughs) - [Steve Leyro] Who you are is what makes you special.

That's what makes you unique.

- [Sean Anthony] When I see a lot of the young kids who come to our classes and stuff, some of the things that they tell me that they're going through, being stressed out, family issues - I always try to be there for them and always try to just like, talk to them.

- [Steve Leyro] We all got rejected.

We all went through love that we always wanted and never had.

- [Sean Anthony] I've witnessed self-harm, homelessness, hunger, and I've helped to change that in other people's lives.

Whether it's a conversation, whether it's linking them to resources, even being a listening ear.

My goal is to create a space and create a future that actually is a lot easier for people like myself.

Voguing, ballroom helped to make me realize that there are others out there like me and who walk the same path as me.

(audience cheering) And that's what Vogue Buffalo is.

We created a space for LGBTQ people to just come and be expressive and be themselves.

(feet pattering) - [Nicole Becker] We are Every Voice Choirs.

We are singing, "I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free," the song made famous by Ms. Nina Simone.

(upbeat music) (upbeat music continues) [Every Voice Choirs, "I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free"] ♪ I wish I knew how ♪ ♪ it would feel to be free ♪ - [Jonathan Eig] We very much feel like we're at a crossroads right now.

There's a feeling that we can't make a difference, that an individual can't change anything, and King told us over and over again, and he still tells us, that we can't take that attitude.

We can't lose infinite hope.

- [Every Voice Choirs, "I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free"] ♪ ...all the things I should say ♪ ♪ Say 'em loud, say 'em clear ♪ ♪ For the whole wide world to hear ♪ - [Adeoba David Oyer] He basically showed me that you could be who you are and make changes in this country.

- [Miki Conn] The Hamilton Hill Arts Center is a continuation of my fight for civil rights.

I didn't want other children to have to experience the kind of thing that I did experience.

- [Every Voice Choirs, "I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free"] ♪ To be me ♪ ♪ Then you'd see ♪ ♪ and agree ♪ ♪ That everyone should be free ♪ - [Jessica Hunter] People who are just like me, who look like me, who have nothing, who came from nothing, they only have us.

- [Every Voice Choirs, "I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free"] ♪ I wish I could give ♪ ♪ all I'm longing to give ♪ - [Xo’Lei Moon] The tiny puzzle piece that I put in place that creates the bigger picture, it will make a mark, but it will definitely only be the stepping stone to where we need to go.

- [Every Voice Choirs, "I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free"] ♪ I wish ♪ - [Jonathan Eig] We have to overcome our fears.

We have to overcome our frustrations.

You have to continue to work for justice.

- [Every Voice Choirs, "I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free"] ♪ Though I'm way overdue, ♪ ♪ I'd be starting anew ♪ - [Chancellor John B.

King Jr.] Dr. King's life was taken at 39.

Think about all the difference that he was able to make.

We owe it to him to keep pushing forward toward a more just, more equitable future for our society.

- [Dr. King] We are determined to be men.

We are determined to be people.

We want to be free.

- [Chancellor John B.

King Jr.] We should see his example as calling all of us, not just to lament the problems, but to take action.

- [Every Voice Choirs, "I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free"] ♪ And I'd sing because I know ♪ ♪ 'Cause I know ♪ ♪ Then I'd sing because I know ♪ ♪ 'Cause I know ♪ ♪ Then I'd sing because I know ♪ ♪ how it feels, how ♪ it feels to be free ♪ ♪ To be free ♪ ♪ To be free ♪ (audience applauds and cheers) (upbeat music) (upbeat music continues) (upbeat music continues) (upbeat music continues) (upbeat music continues) - [Nicole Becker] Take it all.

(clapboard clapping) (audience member laughs) (audience cheering) (upbeat music fades out)