A Different World (1987–1993): Season 2, Episode 21 - Citizen Wayne - full transcript
Ron claims that Dwayne has Jesse Jackson's endorsement for student government president.
£ I know my parents loved me £
£ stand behind me
come what may £
£ I know now that I'm ready £
£ for I finally heard them say £
£ it's a different world £
£ than where you come from £
£ yes, it is now, yeah £
£ here's our chance to make it £
£ and if we focus on our goal £
£ you can dish it,
we can take it £
£ hey, just remember
that you've been told £
£ it's a different world £
£ it's a different world £
£ it's a different world £
£ than where you come from £
£ ooh £
£ than where you come from £
That's not what I said.
That's what I heard.
Isn't that what you heard?
Yeah.
That's right.
Theressa, instead of running
for student body president
you should make pretzels.
You twist everything.
If you want to keep activities
like the film society
and the campus paper
we have to raise student fees.
No.
No.
If we charge a dollar a head
for each dance
we can put that money
towards a scholarship fund.
Party with a purpose.
Elect Dwayne Wayne
and pay to party.
Free parties, free parties.
Free parties, free parties.
Free parties, free parties.
Free parties...
Hush up or I'll call security.
If you children want to act
like crazy people
go on TV with
that Morton downey, Jr.
We're trying
to debate the issues.
The only thing worth debating
is whether you're going out
the front door, the back door
or flunking out of here.
I was touched, man.
I was deeply moved
by your forward thinking
and your dedication
to your fellow students.
I'm glad somebody heard me.
When you talked about
making people pay to party
you didn't mean me, did you?
I especially meant you.
Sir.
Johnson, at ease.
Hey, colonel Taylor.
I'm having my rug shampooed
tomorrow afternoon.
I won't be able to let
the workmen in.
Could you cover for me?
I'm honored that you trust me
with your house.
I trusted you with my daughter.
The same rules apply.
Don't touch anything.
Yes, sir.
What about a tape?
Freddie loves Ziggy Marley.
She doesn't have
a cassette player.
You do.
She drops it.
We have to think of something.
Her birthday is tomorrow.
Whatever you do
buy her something that doesn't
come from scarecrows-r-us.
I think I know
who will be at assembly Sunday.
I was filing in
Dean Hewitt's office
when I came across this memo.
"Hold press release
until Jackson party confirms."
You know what that means,
don't you?
It means you're a snoop.
It means the Jacksons are having
their reunion concert
right here at hillman!
I'm so glad I didn't
go to Berkeley.
Did you say Jackson concert?
The Jacksons are having
their reunion concert
the weekend of my 18th birthday.
Wait a minute.
Michael's retired.
And tito has no business
getting back on that stage.
Then it can only be
the most important Jackson
in the country today...
LaToya.
Oh... god!
That woman has more plastic
in her than a tonka truck.
The woman has a lot to say.
She's been on talk shows.
She's an expert on reptiles.
Do we know as much
as we should about snake life?
We know you.
I've got the perfect gift
for Freddie.
A book about zora neale hurston.
Just what she needs,
another book.
Hurston is her favorite writer.
I'm not surprised.
I heard she wore the same dress
all through college too.
I just bought that book.
It's so inspiring.
Are you reading it?
I am now.
Brother, you are going
about this all wrong.
What am I doing wrong?
You're campaigning
on the issues.
It's killing you.
If you want to win
ditch the substance
and come up with style.
Theressa says
you don't like dances.
Come up with a dance.
Do "the Dwayne."
I won't boogaloo my way
into office.
Let me put it to you this way.
If you weren't my partner
I'd be casting my ballot
for theressa.
Get off that thing
and get on the good foot.
Same rules apply.
Don't touch anything.
I wouldn't want to touch these
overgrown ginsu knives anyway.
The bengal tiger.
The most feared animal
in all the land.
But he is no match
for the black ninja
and his ginsu knife of death.
What's the matter?
Cat got your tongue?
Come, ginsu.
Let us see what other adventures
lie beyond the gates
of the golden temple.
Hi.
Is colonel Taylor in?
No, but he was expecting you.
The rugs are here.
You guys look sharp.
There must be money
in dirty rugs.
I beg your pardon?
Whoa!
You look...
Oh, my goodness!
You must be tired
of hearing this
but you look just like
Jesse Jackson.
I don't know
who your partners are
but put your face on the truck,
you'll get more business.
Didn't mean to surprise you.
I'm early.
You sound like him too.
I am him.
I'm Jesse Jackson.
Get out of here.
Jesse Jackson, first of all,
is a lot taller.
Second of all
Jesse Jackson
runs operation push
not operation push the vacuum.
I'll get the bags, reverend.
Thank you.
Why did he call you reverend?
I was a country preacher
before I got into
the rug business.
You're still a country preacher.
Beanie!
Hey, Jesse.
Jesse!
Jesse Jackson?!
Did you say Jesse?!
Yes, Mr. Wayne.
You weren't supposed to be here
until dinnertime.
I'm early because my flight
actually took off on time.
The rainbow coalition
Jesse Jackson?!
The Jesse Jackson that
baptized Mike Tyson?!
I'm the only person who took
him down... almost drowned him.
I worked for you!
I voted for you!
Yes, yes.
This is Dwayne Wayne
one of my brightest students.
He's thrown his hat
into the political ring.
I'm running for president...
Of student council.
At north Carolina a & T
I was president
of the student council.
Good thing I'm not
running against him.
I think Mr. Jackson would
probably like to freshen up.
Good to see you, beanie.
Down the hall on the left.
Good to meet you,
Mr. Jackson.
Keep hope alive!
Keep hope alive!
Jesse Jackson is staying
at colonel Taylor's house.
He's speaking
at the assembly tomorrow.
Jesse Jackson and LaToya Jackson
here in the same weekend?
What are the odds on that?
The only way you'll see LaToya
is in that poster over your bed.
I was looking forward
to discussing her views
on world affairs.
I'll break the news
to the fellas.
Voters of hillman,
for your political pleasure
I give to you
the current and future
president of your
student government
theressa stone,
doing the stone boogie.
£ do you feel the beat?
Do you like the heat? £
£it's the cold stone boogie
I can't be beat £
£a vote for me means victory £
£ it's like banking
all your money £
£ for security £
£so ignore that same old
tired refrain £
£ don't vote for Dwayne,
he's a wallet drain £
that should be you out there.
£ don't vote for Dwayne,
he's a wallet drain £
£hey! £
£hey! £
Don't be blinded by the flash.
What you saw
was a woman dancing
around the issues
because every year
the federal government
cuts funding for education.
My student council
will make sure
that hillman has
a solid present and future.
A vote for me is a vote
for the slammingest,
jammingest homecoming
hillman has ever seen!
Call mission control.
Your campaign is blasting off.
This mission is scrubbed.
I don't know if I like
the sound of this.
Maybe you'd like it
better like this.
£ I'm out, I'm out £
£there's nothing left
to shout about £
£ I quit, I quit £
£ I'm through with it £
it's a good thing
I didn't let you dance.
You'd have lost all support.
Ron, read my lips.
I'm out.
Nobody on this campus
cares about anything.
This is the "me" generation.
So I'm taking care of me.
Let everybody put on
their clown suits and party.
Brother, if I got humiliated
every time I opened
my mouth in public
it would get to me, too.
But look...
I have in my hand
the first nail in
theressa stone's coffin.
Look at that.
You, me, and Jesse.
I couldn't get
a better picture of you.
I came out pretty good.
Dig a hole, climb into it
and take this poster with you.
If I had known
you would be this ungrateful
I wouldn't have spent two hours
putting these up
all over campus.
I have to spend
the next two hours
taking them down.
Beanie, those pork chops
are as good as your grandma's.
I can still put them away.
And still skinny as a beanpole.
You're just jealous.
Check it out.
My, my.
Who's that?
Stu gardner.
What are you going to say
to the students tomorrow?
I might pretend
I'm in Washington
and give my inaugural address.
I'm dying to use it.
Here we go again.
People been returning things
they never borrowed.
You're just popular.
Be with you in a minute.
Colonel Taylor...
I'm not staying.
Reverend Jackson...
I hope you haven't eaten
because I brought you
some of my special
rainbow coalition meat loaf.
It's got ground pork
ground chicken and ground round.
It looks real pretty
when you slice it.
Thank you, friend.
The name is gaines
but, please, call me Vernon.
Everybody does.
Have a taste while it's hot.
Vernon, we just ate.
A man his size
always got room for more.
It's good, too.
Thank you.
You're welcome.
It's better with a potato.
I'll put this in the fridge.
Not until you take a picture
of me and the reverend.
Do you mind, reverend?
Of course not.
You're lucky velma isn't here.
I remember the time
we met Billy eckstine
in Atlantic city.
Velma nearly talked
the man to death
all over the casino.
Smile.
She sounded like a slot machine.
I was hoping somebody
would put a nickel in her mouth.
Thank you, reverend.
Look at the time.
I got to go.
Thank you for the meat loaf.
Don't mention it.
I'll send you
and the missus a recipe
and a picture of us
because i'm
making double prints.
I understand.
I won't tell nobody
the reverend's in your house.
Good-bye, Vernon.
I'm sorry, man.
You're a hard secret to keep.
I'm not complaining.
This is good meat loaf.
I bet that's Vernon
with his
rainbow coalition custard.
I haven't seen this much of you
since you dated my daughter.
May I talk
to the reverend, please?
I owe him an apology.
Dwayne Wayne says he's sorry.
Good night.
It's okay.
What do you have
to apologize about?
This.
I know that there's
a perfectly ridiculous
explanation for this.
I wasn't doing well
in my campaign
and an overzealous supporter
thought this might get me over.
This guy in the middle?
That's him.
I took them down
and when I drop out officially
I'll explain that you had
nothing to do with it.
He is somebody."
What was our campaign about?
Nothing anybody cared about.
All these people care about
is a jamming,
slamming homecoming.
You're as popular as I was
in my first campaign.
I wouldn't carry one dorm.
I barely carried my friend.
So you're dropping out?
Only a fool would keep
taking these beatings.
I know that feeling, beanie.
But you're Jesse Jackson.
People listen to you.
Because I wouldn't give up.
I would not surrender.
I stood up,
and you must stand up.
Amen to that.
Nobody cares if I set up
a scholarship fund
or try to save
student activities.
No one else is thinking
about the future.
So why should you?
If you can't take the heat
get out of the kitchen.
You got to stand up
to be a leader.
Reverend, I've tried.
No one is listening to me.
You got to stand up.
A man can't be heard
if he stops talking.
Amen to that, too.
Okay.
If we don't hurry,
we'll be so far away
that the reverend
will look like a bug.
We have half an hour.
I hope we can shake hands.
He's an incredible speaker.
So brilliant.
So handsome.
Ladies, we are not going
to a Bobby brown concert.
But it's our prerogative
to get a good look at the man.
Ladies, get a grip.
This is a unique opportunity
for all of us.
Don't embarrass yourselves.
More importantly,
don't embarrass me.
You'd think they never met
anybody famous before.
It's him!
Ahhh!
Lettie, I'd like you
to meet a friend of mine.
Reverend Jackson, lettie bostic.
Lettie is the director
here at Gilbert hall.
I... uh...
What I think she's trying to say
is "nice to meet you."
Yes.
Very nice.
Very, very, very, very nice.
Lettie, get a grip.
Actually, she's got
a good grip already.
Colonel Taylor:
I first met this man
many years ago
in my grandmama's kitchen.
He was the first to sit down
and the last to get up.
Some things never change.
If I had known he was going
to become a world leader
I would have offered him
my peach cobbler.
Ladies and gentlemen
my friend, and yours,
the reverend Jesse Jackson.
Thank you for
the introduction, beanie.
Early today, as I contemplated
this lecture tonight
I thought about a young man
who had been in a rather sad
and melancholy mood
feeling insignificant,
impotent, worthless
that he did not count.
As I thought about him
it occurred to me
that his real problem
was he felt that as one person
he could not make a difference.
The change in america
that has taken place
in the last 30 years
has occurred because
somebody thought
that they could
make a difference.
The changes did not come
from wall street
or the white house
or the congress or the courts.
They were always started
by some young person
who thought that they could,
in fact, make a difference.
Rosa Parks got on a bus one day.
The sign above
the driver's head read:
"The coloreds seat
from the rear.
"Whites seat from the front.
Violators will
be punished by law."
She refused to go
to the back of the bus
and she was arrested.
Dr. King went to her rescue,
a 26-year-old student
and told her, "better that
you walk in dignity
than ride in shame."
One person can
make a difference.
In 1957, nine students
at little rock central high
went to school led by the army.
They refused to bow.
They made a difference.
In the next years
young america died
that we might live.
Medgar evers was killed
in cold blood
about this right to vote.
Schwerner, Goodman and chaney,
two Jews and an African-American
were bulldozed to death
with their eyes wide open
about this right to vote.
Jimmy Lee Jackson, 15-year-old
African-American student
shot and killed
in Marion, Alabama
about this right to vote.
Four little girls
blown up in a church
in Birmingham, Alabama,
one Sunday morning
all about the right to vote.
They made a difference.
You must make a difference.
Whenever students are sober
and sane and sensitive
and put hope in their brains
and not dope in their veins
they can always
make a difference.
Because they died,
your generation has the power.
John Kennedy was elected
by a margin of 112,000 votes...
Less than one vote per precinct.
Everybody counts.
Nixon beat Humphrey
by 550,000 votes.
Carter beat Ford
by a million and seven.
Fewer than three million votes
elected three presidents
in 16 years.
Today there are 3.2 million
high school seniors graduating.
They should cross that stage
with a diploma in one hand,
and a voter card in the other
because they can
make a difference.
12 million college students
must vote.
You have the power.
You must now have the attitude.
It's not my aptitude,
but my attitude
that determines my altitude
or how high I will go.
My mind is a Pearl.
I can learn
anything in the world.
Just because it rains,
I don't have to drown.
I may have been born in the slum
but the slum is not born in me.
I can rise above
my circumstance.
Hands that once picked cotton
can now pick presidents.
You want to free mandela
and free South Africa
let's vote about it.
Let's vote about it.
Let's vote about it.
Oh...
You came so close.
Another 315 votes
and you'd be president.
I demand a recount.
It's not important that I lost.
The important thing is
I had something to say
and I said it.
Good for you.
I wish I'd won.
Freddie, we looked and looked
for the right birthday present
but we couldn't find anything.
Until now.
Hit it, fellas.
Male strippers!
No, this idea's
from reverend Jackson.
£ happy 18th birthday £
£ happy birthday,
Freddie Brooks £
£this birthday present for you £
£ is more special
than it looks £
£ 18 candles on your cake £
£think what a difference
you can make £
£ know the issues £
£ make a choice £
£ it's time to
cast your ballot £
£ let 'em hear your voice £
£ but you can't vote £
£ 'cause it will be hard £
£ if you do not have £
£ a registration card £
an application
for your own
voter registration card.
Happy birthday, Freddie.
I hate to tell you
but I filled out
my registration papers
this morning.
Captioning made possible by
wrigley's spearmint chewing gum
and nbc.
Captioned by
the caption center
wgbh educational foundation
£ stand behind me
come what may £
£ I know now that I'm ready £
£ for I finally heard them say £
£ it's a different world £
£ than where you come from £
£ yes, it is now, yeah £
£ here's our chance to make it £
£ and if we focus on our goal £
£ you can dish it,
we can take it £
£ hey, just remember
that you've been told £
£ it's a different world £
£ it's a different world £
£ it's a different world £
£ than where you come from £
£ ooh £
£ than where you come from £
That's not what I said.
That's what I heard.
Isn't that what you heard?
Yeah.
That's right.
Theressa, instead of running
for student body president
you should make pretzels.
You twist everything.
If you want to keep activities
like the film society
and the campus paper
we have to raise student fees.
No.
No.
If we charge a dollar a head
for each dance
we can put that money
towards a scholarship fund.
Party with a purpose.
Elect Dwayne Wayne
and pay to party.
Free parties, free parties.
Free parties, free parties.
Free parties, free parties.
Free parties...
Hush up or I'll call security.
If you children want to act
like crazy people
go on TV with
that Morton downey, Jr.
We're trying
to debate the issues.
The only thing worth debating
is whether you're going out
the front door, the back door
or flunking out of here.
I was touched, man.
I was deeply moved
by your forward thinking
and your dedication
to your fellow students.
I'm glad somebody heard me.
When you talked about
making people pay to party
you didn't mean me, did you?
I especially meant you.
Sir.
Johnson, at ease.
Hey, colonel Taylor.
I'm having my rug shampooed
tomorrow afternoon.
I won't be able to let
the workmen in.
Could you cover for me?
I'm honored that you trust me
with your house.
I trusted you with my daughter.
The same rules apply.
Don't touch anything.
Yes, sir.
What about a tape?
Freddie loves Ziggy Marley.
She doesn't have
a cassette player.
You do.
She drops it.
We have to think of something.
Her birthday is tomorrow.
Whatever you do
buy her something that doesn't
come from scarecrows-r-us.
I think I know
who will be at assembly Sunday.
I was filing in
Dean Hewitt's office
when I came across this memo.
"Hold press release
until Jackson party confirms."
You know what that means,
don't you?
It means you're a snoop.
It means the Jacksons are having
their reunion concert
right here at hillman!
I'm so glad I didn't
go to Berkeley.
Did you say Jackson concert?
The Jacksons are having
their reunion concert
the weekend of my 18th birthday.
Wait a minute.
Michael's retired.
And tito has no business
getting back on that stage.
Then it can only be
the most important Jackson
in the country today...
LaToya.
Oh... god!
That woman has more plastic
in her than a tonka truck.
The woman has a lot to say.
She's been on talk shows.
She's an expert on reptiles.
Do we know as much
as we should about snake life?
We know you.
I've got the perfect gift
for Freddie.
A book about zora neale hurston.
Just what she needs,
another book.
Hurston is her favorite writer.
I'm not surprised.
I heard she wore the same dress
all through college too.
I just bought that book.
It's so inspiring.
Are you reading it?
I am now.
Brother, you are going
about this all wrong.
What am I doing wrong?
You're campaigning
on the issues.
It's killing you.
If you want to win
ditch the substance
and come up with style.
Theressa says
you don't like dances.
Come up with a dance.
Do "the Dwayne."
I won't boogaloo my way
into office.
Let me put it to you this way.
If you weren't my partner
I'd be casting my ballot
for theressa.
Get off that thing
and get on the good foot.
Same rules apply.
Don't touch anything.
I wouldn't want to touch these
overgrown ginsu knives anyway.
The bengal tiger.
The most feared animal
in all the land.
But he is no match
for the black ninja
and his ginsu knife of death.
What's the matter?
Cat got your tongue?
Come, ginsu.
Let us see what other adventures
lie beyond the gates
of the golden temple.
Hi.
Is colonel Taylor in?
No, but he was expecting you.
The rugs are here.
You guys look sharp.
There must be money
in dirty rugs.
I beg your pardon?
Whoa!
You look...
Oh, my goodness!
You must be tired
of hearing this
but you look just like
Jesse Jackson.
I don't know
who your partners are
but put your face on the truck,
you'll get more business.
Didn't mean to surprise you.
I'm early.
You sound like him too.
I am him.
I'm Jesse Jackson.
Get out of here.
Jesse Jackson, first of all,
is a lot taller.
Second of all
Jesse Jackson
runs operation push
not operation push the vacuum.
I'll get the bags, reverend.
Thank you.
Why did he call you reverend?
I was a country preacher
before I got into
the rug business.
You're still a country preacher.
Beanie!
Hey, Jesse.
Jesse!
Jesse Jackson?!
Did you say Jesse?!
Yes, Mr. Wayne.
You weren't supposed to be here
until dinnertime.
I'm early because my flight
actually took off on time.
The rainbow coalition
Jesse Jackson?!
The Jesse Jackson that
baptized Mike Tyson?!
I'm the only person who took
him down... almost drowned him.
I worked for you!
I voted for you!
Yes, yes.
This is Dwayne Wayne
one of my brightest students.
He's thrown his hat
into the political ring.
I'm running for president...
Of student council.
At north Carolina a & T
I was president
of the student council.
Good thing I'm not
running against him.
I think Mr. Jackson would
probably like to freshen up.
Good to see you, beanie.
Down the hall on the left.
Good to meet you,
Mr. Jackson.
Keep hope alive!
Keep hope alive!
Jesse Jackson is staying
at colonel Taylor's house.
He's speaking
at the assembly tomorrow.
Jesse Jackson and LaToya Jackson
here in the same weekend?
What are the odds on that?
The only way you'll see LaToya
is in that poster over your bed.
I was looking forward
to discussing her views
on world affairs.
I'll break the news
to the fellas.
Voters of hillman,
for your political pleasure
I give to you
the current and future
president of your
student government
theressa stone,
doing the stone boogie.
£ do you feel the beat?
Do you like the heat? £
£it's the cold stone boogie
I can't be beat £
£a vote for me means victory £
£ it's like banking
all your money £
£ for security £
£so ignore that same old
tired refrain £
£ don't vote for Dwayne,
he's a wallet drain £
that should be you out there.
£ don't vote for Dwayne,
he's a wallet drain £
£hey! £
£hey! £
Don't be blinded by the flash.
What you saw
was a woman dancing
around the issues
because every year
the federal government
cuts funding for education.
My student council
will make sure
that hillman has
a solid present and future.
A vote for me is a vote
for the slammingest,
jammingest homecoming
hillman has ever seen!
Call mission control.
Your campaign is blasting off.
This mission is scrubbed.
I don't know if I like
the sound of this.
Maybe you'd like it
better like this.
£ I'm out, I'm out £
£there's nothing left
to shout about £
£ I quit, I quit £
£ I'm through with it £
it's a good thing
I didn't let you dance.
You'd have lost all support.
Ron, read my lips.
I'm out.
Nobody on this campus
cares about anything.
This is the "me" generation.
So I'm taking care of me.
Let everybody put on
their clown suits and party.
Brother, if I got humiliated
every time I opened
my mouth in public
it would get to me, too.
But look...
I have in my hand
the first nail in
theressa stone's coffin.
Look at that.
You, me, and Jesse.
I couldn't get
a better picture of you.
I came out pretty good.
Dig a hole, climb into it
and take this poster with you.
If I had known
you would be this ungrateful
I wouldn't have spent two hours
putting these up
all over campus.
I have to spend
the next two hours
taking them down.
Beanie, those pork chops
are as good as your grandma's.
I can still put them away.
And still skinny as a beanpole.
You're just jealous.
Check it out.
My, my.
Who's that?
Stu gardner.
What are you going to say
to the students tomorrow?
I might pretend
I'm in Washington
and give my inaugural address.
I'm dying to use it.
Here we go again.
People been returning things
they never borrowed.
You're just popular.
Be with you in a minute.
Colonel Taylor...
I'm not staying.
Reverend Jackson...
I hope you haven't eaten
because I brought you
some of my special
rainbow coalition meat loaf.
It's got ground pork
ground chicken and ground round.
It looks real pretty
when you slice it.
Thank you, friend.
The name is gaines
but, please, call me Vernon.
Everybody does.
Have a taste while it's hot.
Vernon, we just ate.
A man his size
always got room for more.
It's good, too.
Thank you.
You're welcome.
It's better with a potato.
I'll put this in the fridge.
Not until you take a picture
of me and the reverend.
Do you mind, reverend?
Of course not.
You're lucky velma isn't here.
I remember the time
we met Billy eckstine
in Atlantic city.
Velma nearly talked
the man to death
all over the casino.
Smile.
She sounded like a slot machine.
I was hoping somebody
would put a nickel in her mouth.
Thank you, reverend.
Look at the time.
I got to go.
Thank you for the meat loaf.
Don't mention it.
I'll send you
and the missus a recipe
and a picture of us
because i'm
making double prints.
I understand.
I won't tell nobody
the reverend's in your house.
Good-bye, Vernon.
I'm sorry, man.
You're a hard secret to keep.
I'm not complaining.
This is good meat loaf.
I bet that's Vernon
with his
rainbow coalition custard.
I haven't seen this much of you
since you dated my daughter.
May I talk
to the reverend, please?
I owe him an apology.
Dwayne Wayne says he's sorry.
Good night.
It's okay.
What do you have
to apologize about?
This.
I know that there's
a perfectly ridiculous
explanation for this.
I wasn't doing well
in my campaign
and an overzealous supporter
thought this might get me over.
This guy in the middle?
That's him.
I took them down
and when I drop out officially
I'll explain that you had
nothing to do with it.
He is somebody."
What was our campaign about?
Nothing anybody cared about.
All these people care about
is a jamming,
slamming homecoming.
You're as popular as I was
in my first campaign.
I wouldn't carry one dorm.
I barely carried my friend.
So you're dropping out?
Only a fool would keep
taking these beatings.
I know that feeling, beanie.
But you're Jesse Jackson.
People listen to you.
Because I wouldn't give up.
I would not surrender.
I stood up,
and you must stand up.
Amen to that.
Nobody cares if I set up
a scholarship fund
or try to save
student activities.
No one else is thinking
about the future.
So why should you?
If you can't take the heat
get out of the kitchen.
You got to stand up
to be a leader.
Reverend, I've tried.
No one is listening to me.
You got to stand up.
A man can't be heard
if he stops talking.
Amen to that, too.
Okay.
If we don't hurry,
we'll be so far away
that the reverend
will look like a bug.
We have half an hour.
I hope we can shake hands.
He's an incredible speaker.
So brilliant.
So handsome.
Ladies, we are not going
to a Bobby brown concert.
But it's our prerogative
to get a good look at the man.
Ladies, get a grip.
This is a unique opportunity
for all of us.
Don't embarrass yourselves.
More importantly,
don't embarrass me.
You'd think they never met
anybody famous before.
It's him!
Ahhh!
Lettie, I'd like you
to meet a friend of mine.
Reverend Jackson, lettie bostic.
Lettie is the director
here at Gilbert hall.
I... uh...
What I think she's trying to say
is "nice to meet you."
Yes.
Very nice.
Very, very, very, very nice.
Lettie, get a grip.
Actually, she's got
a good grip already.
Colonel Taylor:
I first met this man
many years ago
in my grandmama's kitchen.
He was the first to sit down
and the last to get up.
Some things never change.
If I had known he was going
to become a world leader
I would have offered him
my peach cobbler.
Ladies and gentlemen
my friend, and yours,
the reverend Jesse Jackson.
Thank you for
the introduction, beanie.
Early today, as I contemplated
this lecture tonight
I thought about a young man
who had been in a rather sad
and melancholy mood
feeling insignificant,
impotent, worthless
that he did not count.
As I thought about him
it occurred to me
that his real problem
was he felt that as one person
he could not make a difference.
The change in america
that has taken place
in the last 30 years
has occurred because
somebody thought
that they could
make a difference.
The changes did not come
from wall street
or the white house
or the congress or the courts.
They were always started
by some young person
who thought that they could,
in fact, make a difference.
Rosa Parks got on a bus one day.
The sign above
the driver's head read:
"The coloreds seat
from the rear.
"Whites seat from the front.
Violators will
be punished by law."
She refused to go
to the back of the bus
and she was arrested.
Dr. King went to her rescue,
a 26-year-old student
and told her, "better that
you walk in dignity
than ride in shame."
One person can
make a difference.
In 1957, nine students
at little rock central high
went to school led by the army.
They refused to bow.
They made a difference.
In the next years
young america died
that we might live.
Medgar evers was killed
in cold blood
about this right to vote.
Schwerner, Goodman and chaney,
two Jews and an African-American
were bulldozed to death
with their eyes wide open
about this right to vote.
Jimmy Lee Jackson, 15-year-old
African-American student
shot and killed
in Marion, Alabama
about this right to vote.
Four little girls
blown up in a church
in Birmingham, Alabama,
one Sunday morning
all about the right to vote.
They made a difference.
You must make a difference.
Whenever students are sober
and sane and sensitive
and put hope in their brains
and not dope in their veins
they can always
make a difference.
Because they died,
your generation has the power.
John Kennedy was elected
by a margin of 112,000 votes...
Less than one vote per precinct.
Everybody counts.
Nixon beat Humphrey
by 550,000 votes.
Carter beat Ford
by a million and seven.
Fewer than three million votes
elected three presidents
in 16 years.
Today there are 3.2 million
high school seniors graduating.
They should cross that stage
with a diploma in one hand,
and a voter card in the other
because they can
make a difference.
12 million college students
must vote.
You have the power.
You must now have the attitude.
It's not my aptitude,
but my attitude
that determines my altitude
or how high I will go.
My mind is a Pearl.
I can learn
anything in the world.
Just because it rains,
I don't have to drown.
I may have been born in the slum
but the slum is not born in me.
I can rise above
my circumstance.
Hands that once picked cotton
can now pick presidents.
You want to free mandela
and free South Africa
let's vote about it.
Let's vote about it.
Let's vote about it.
Oh...
You came so close.
Another 315 votes
and you'd be president.
I demand a recount.
It's not important that I lost.
The important thing is
I had something to say
and I said it.
Good for you.
I wish I'd won.
Freddie, we looked and looked
for the right birthday present
but we couldn't find anything.
Until now.
Hit it, fellas.
Male strippers!
No, this idea's
from reverend Jackson.
£ happy 18th birthday £
£ happy birthday,
Freddie Brooks £
£this birthday present for you £
£ is more special
than it looks £
£ 18 candles on your cake £
£think what a difference
you can make £
£ know the issues £
£ make a choice £
£ it's time to
cast your ballot £
£ let 'em hear your voice £
£ but you can't vote £
£ 'cause it will be hard £
£ if you do not have £
£ a registration card £
an application
for your own
voter registration card.
Happy birthday, Freddie.
I hate to tell you
but I filled out
my registration papers
this morning.
Captioning made possible by
wrigley's spearmint chewing gum
and nbc.
Captioned by
the caption center
wgbh educational foundation