Martin Luther King Jr. had a dream. Rutha Harris had a song.
“That was a day I shall never forget,” said Harris, 66, recalling performing with her group, the Freedom Singers, just before King gave his “I Have a Dream” speech at the Aug. 28, 1963, March on Washington.
Now, 43 years later, Harris, who is still active in the civil rights movement, will perform at the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s 21st annual ”Come Share the Dream” tribute to King on Monday, Jan. 15, at 10:30 am. The event is free.
Harris, who now lives in Georgia, has resurrected her old group — rechristened the Albany Civil Rights Museum Freedom Singers — which still performs every other week at her local museum to the civil rights movement.
“We tell the story of the movement through song,” said Harris, explaining why she re-formed the group. “Young people today don’t know anything about the civil rights movement. The songs are a part of history [that] needs to be told.”
For Harris’s appearance, her first at BAM, she plans to belt out movement classics, including “I’m Gonna Sit at the Welcome Table” and “We Shall Overcome.”
Joining Harris at the event will be Will Power, the hip-hop theater innovator whose one-man show, “Flow,” won a best theater performance award at the 2004 HBO U.S. Comedy Arts Festival. His recent modern adaptation of the ancient Greek drama Seven Against Thebes, titled The Seven, won three Lucille Lortel Awards in 2006.
In addition to honoring King, the BAM tribute has become a must-stop for local politicians. City Council Speaker Chris Quinn and city Comptroller Bill Thompson will speak and dozens of lower-level pols will work the room, seeking to realize their own dream.
The “21st Annual Brooklyn Tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.” takes place at the BAM Howard Gilman Opera House (30 Lafayette Ave. at Ashland Place in Fort Greene) on Jan. 15 at 10:30 am. Admission is free. Tickets will be distributed in the BAM lobby beginning at 8 am. For information, call (718) 636-4100 or visit BAM’s Web site at www.bam.org.
