MLK Concert Exits Kennedy Center

“Let Freedom Ring,” an annual concert that has celebrated the life of Martin Luther King Jr. for more than 20 years at The Kennedy Center, is relocating to the Howard Theater. Georgetown University, which produces the event, cited the need to save money as a reason.

The concert, scheduled for Jan. 19, will be headlined by Common (Lonnie Rashid Lynn), an Oscar- and Grammy-award winning actor/rapper. In the past it has featured Aretha Franklin, Gladys Knight,  Chaka Khan, and other major artists. There will also be a choir made up of singers from D.C.-area churches and from Georgetown University.

For Marc Bamuthi Joseph, changing the venue for the celebration seemed essential. Until this past March, he was The Kennedy Center’s artistic director for social impact, a division that created programs for underserved communities in the D.C. region, and was a regular speaker at the Martin Luther King Jr. Day event. He and half his staff were summarily laid off on March 25.

"I would much rather that we all be spared the hypocrisy of celebrating a man who not only fought for justice, but who articulated the case for equity maybe better than anyone in American history… when the official position of this administration is an anti-equity position," he told NPR.

Composer Nolan Williams Jr., who has been the music producer for “Let Freedom Ring” since 2003, shares Joseph’s lack of regret about the event’s relocation. "You celebrate the time that was and the impact that has been and can never be erased,” he observed philosophically. “And then you move forward to the next thing."

This year’s program will premiere Just Like Selma, a new piece by Williams that was inspired by one of King's most famous quotes: "The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice." The composer is eager to emphasize that the quote ought not be interpreted as encouraging passivity. "The arc doesn't just happen to move. We have to be agents of change. We have to be active arc movers, arc benders," he says,

In the absence of “Let Freedom Ring,” The Kennedy Center will present the Memphis, TN, Missionary Kings of Harmony of the United House of Prayer for All People's Anacostia congregation.

NPR

Pictured: Actor/rapper Lonnie Rashid Lynn