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CNN Live At Daybreak

Honoring MLK: Students Promoting Peace

Aired January 20, 2003 - 06:42   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: As the nation celebrates Martin Luther King Day, a civic leader and an NFL star have teamed up to get young people in New York to promote King's vision for peace. They are Kirk Spahn of the Institute for Civic Leadership.
Good morning to you -- Kirk.

KIRK SPAHN, INSTITUTE FOR CIVIC LEADERSHIP: Good morning.

COLLINS: And New York Giants star, Dhani Jones.

Hi, Dhani, thanks for being here.

DHANI JONES, NEW YORK GIANTS: Thanks, Heidi. Thanks for having me.

COLLINS: You bet. They both join us from New York today. And we just want to talk about what you guys are doing. This is a great idea. You're saying take action instead of taking just the day off, right?

Dhani, why don't you go ahead and tell us what this is all about?

JONES: Well, you know many people today is a vacation and to us it's a day of inspiration where we can reach young people and teach them a little bit about history, some of which they already know, but how they can become a part of that history and how they can become a part of the future.

COLLINS: And so how did the two of you come up with this idea together?

JONES: Well I think more then anything it was more Kirk. You know he's a -- he's a great man. He has a great idea and he has a great dream and that's part of the Institute for Civic Leadership, that's part of the promotion is "Dare to Dream." And we want to teach these young people, we want to teach these kids how to use their minds, how to become a part of society and not just sit at home and watch television and play on the computer all day but how to institute themselves in the -- in the -- in the world today.

COLLINS: And so, Kirk, how exactly are you going to go about doing that?

SPAHN: Well our objective really is to, you know, through peace education to inspire the next generation of young civic leaders to build towards a culture of peace by bringing together diverse student communities, organizations and bring these students from all different backgrounds together with global leaders so that they can share their journeys and set out a roadmap that these students can then follow to really make a difference. And the goal...

COLLINS: So are there events planned for today then?

SPAHN: Absolutely. Today we are launching a peace studies initiative and also hosting a "Dare to Dream" conference for peace at the Museum of Natural History. And we have world leaders coming in from all over, from the Middle East, from all -- from representatives from the United Nations, to, again, share their experiences and provide the tools that these students can go and really set off on a path to take Dr. King's legacy to the next level. So it's really about all humanity too, and it's an -- it's an initiative in social entrepreneurship for them to take action.

COLLINS: And I'd love to hear quickly from both of you how you see -- Kirk, go ahead first on this -- how do you see kids these days on this very topic, are they excited about it?

SPAHN: It -- we held a conference last year, and you know kids -- what I'm passionate about is being passionate. So we want to link in and hear the students voices. They have a really strong voice and sometimes that's not heard effectively. So we seek to do is to bring these leaders to inspire them and then turn it really to these students and allow them to make -- to impact change.

COLLINS: Dhani, what's your take on the kids?

JONES: You know last year we had about 500 or 600 kids actually show up to the conference and...

COLLINS: Wow!

JONES: ... we actually had an -- we had an overflow room. And you know you'd be surprised to see how many kids showed up on their day off. I mean this is a day where many kids actually sleep in, you know a longer amount of time to play their PlayStation or you know their video games and things of that nature.

But these kids, they came out and they were fired up. I mean they were ready to listen to people that had things to say to them in order to motivate them for their future. I mean you know these kids these days, they live -- you know they live in the present because there's so many things going on within the economy, within international affairs and things of that nature, you know they have to become a part of society.

And these are -- these are the leaders of tomorrow. These are the leaders that want to, as Kirk said, voice their opinion and communicate. I mean the basis of -- the basis of the future is communication and that is understanding one another and how the next one thinks. And if one leader can talk to a next leader, talk to the next leader, then they can form a nucleus and form a sense of synchronicity in that they can come together and they can just -- they can change the world in entirety. COLLINS: All right. Well good for you guys for getting the kids fired up, as Dhani would say. We hope you have an excellent day and our same best to the kids.

SPAHN: Thank you very much.

JONES: Thank you.

COLLINS: Dhani and Kirk Spahn, thanks so much for being here from New York today.

SPAHN: Thank you very much for having us.

COLLINS: You bet.

JONES: Thank you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired January 20, 2003 - 06:42   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: As the nation celebrates Martin Luther King Day, a civic leader and an NFL star have teamed up to get young people in New York to promote King's vision for peace. They are Kirk Spahn of the Institute for Civic Leadership.
Good morning to you -- Kirk.

KIRK SPAHN, INSTITUTE FOR CIVIC LEADERSHIP: Good morning.

COLLINS: And New York Giants star, Dhani Jones.

Hi, Dhani, thanks for being here.

DHANI JONES, NEW YORK GIANTS: Thanks, Heidi. Thanks for having me.

COLLINS: You bet. They both join us from New York today. And we just want to talk about what you guys are doing. This is a great idea. You're saying take action instead of taking just the day off, right?

Dhani, why don't you go ahead and tell us what this is all about?

JONES: Well, you know many people today is a vacation and to us it's a day of inspiration where we can reach young people and teach them a little bit about history, some of which they already know, but how they can become a part of that history and how they can become a part of the future.

COLLINS: And so how did the two of you come up with this idea together?

JONES: Well I think more then anything it was more Kirk. You know he's a -- he's a great man. He has a great idea and he has a great dream and that's part of the Institute for Civic Leadership, that's part of the promotion is "Dare to Dream." And we want to teach these young people, we want to teach these kids how to use their minds, how to become a part of society and not just sit at home and watch television and play on the computer all day but how to institute themselves in the -- in the -- in the world today.

COLLINS: And so, Kirk, how exactly are you going to go about doing that?

SPAHN: Well our objective really is to, you know, through peace education to inspire the next generation of young civic leaders to build towards a culture of peace by bringing together diverse student communities, organizations and bring these students from all different backgrounds together with global leaders so that they can share their journeys and set out a roadmap that these students can then follow to really make a difference. And the goal...

COLLINS: So are there events planned for today then?

SPAHN: Absolutely. Today we are launching a peace studies initiative and also hosting a "Dare to Dream" conference for peace at the Museum of Natural History. And we have world leaders coming in from all over, from the Middle East, from all -- from representatives from the United Nations, to, again, share their experiences and provide the tools that these students can go and really set off on a path to take Dr. King's legacy to the next level. So it's really about all humanity too, and it's an -- it's an initiative in social entrepreneurship for them to take action.

COLLINS: And I'd love to hear quickly from both of you how you see -- Kirk, go ahead first on this -- how do you see kids these days on this very topic, are they excited about it?

SPAHN: It -- we held a conference last year, and you know kids -- what I'm passionate about is being passionate. So we want to link in and hear the students voices. They have a really strong voice and sometimes that's not heard effectively. So we seek to do is to bring these leaders to inspire them and then turn it really to these students and allow them to make -- to impact change.

COLLINS: Dhani, what's your take on the kids?

JONES: You know last year we had about 500 or 600 kids actually show up to the conference and...

COLLINS: Wow!

JONES: ... we actually had an -- we had an overflow room. And you know you'd be surprised to see how many kids showed up on their day off. I mean this is a day where many kids actually sleep in, you know a longer amount of time to play their PlayStation or you know their video games and things of that nature.

But these kids, they came out and they were fired up. I mean they were ready to listen to people that had things to say to them in order to motivate them for their future. I mean you know these kids these days, they live -- you know they live in the present because there's so many things going on within the economy, within international affairs and things of that nature, you know they have to become a part of society.

And these are -- these are the leaders of tomorrow. These are the leaders that want to, as Kirk said, voice their opinion and communicate. I mean the basis of -- the basis of the future is communication and that is understanding one another and how the next one thinks. And if one leader can talk to a next leader, talk to the next leader, then they can form a nucleus and form a sense of synchronicity in that they can come together and they can just -- they can change the world in entirety. COLLINS: All right. Well good for you guys for getting the kids fired up, as Dhani would say. We hope you have an excellent day and our same best to the kids.

SPAHN: Thank you very much.

JONES: Thank you.

COLLINS: Dhani and Kirk Spahn, thanks so much for being here from New York today.

SPAHN: Thank you very much for having us.

COLLINS: You bet.

JONES: Thank you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com