DOWNTOWN MEMPHIS, Tenn. (FOX13) - The 2014 Freedom Awards are being held Tuesday night at the Cannon Center. Tuesday morning, the four honorees participated in a public forum at the Temple of Deliverance Church.

The most familiar face in the room likely was former NBC anchorman, Tom Brokaw, who is to receive the Freedom Award for lifetime achievement. The others, not so familiar, but the words they spoke may last a lifetime.

Robert Parris Moses is an early Civil Rights Leader from New York, who risked his life to bring the vote to folks he had never met in Mississippi.

Moses faced relentless violence and intimidation as she traveled to the counties in Mississippi to educate and register voters. He was beaten and arrested in Amite County, in 1965. Only one African American was registered to vote. And a life time later, he is still fighting for the rights of others.

The stop and frisk laws are an affront to the presumption of innocence and the reason is this. The presumption of innocence is not just the legal concept in common sense terms it depends on generosity of spirit which sees the best not the worst in any stranger, says Robert Parris Moses.

Frank Robinson traveled from his hometown in California to a brave new world of baseball.

At an early age he knew he would face obstacles in life but refused to allow the words and actions of others to define him. Instead he spoke out on racial inequality and channeled his frustrations to improve his playing abilities.

And of all the great people Robinson met in his long and distinguished career in major league baseball, his hero was to be found back home in California.

Your best role model is your parents, and they are great role models. My mother, I grew up in a single parent home and did not let that stand in my way. I hear all the time you need a father in the home. Absolutely, if possible, But, it's not fully necessary for you to achieve what you want to in life says Robinson.

Following the public forum, the recipients of the Freedom Awards were scheduled to be at the Cook Convention Center, the Cannon Center, for the 6:30 awards ceremony, followed by dinner at the Cook Convention Center.

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Freedom Award Winners Participate In Public Forum