"Come Share the Dream," Brooklyn’s
annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration, turns 16 on Jan.
21. New York’s largest celebration in honor of the slain civil
rights leader, the event attracts an audience of 2,000 each year,
filling to capacity BAM’s spacious opera house.
This year, the tribute will feature a special address by hip-hop
mogul Russell Simmons and musical entertainment by gospel singer
Donnie McClurkin and the New York-based gospel ensemble SRC All-City
Chorale.
Rev. Dr. A. R. Bernard from the Christian Cultural Center in
East New York -where Borough President Marty Markowitz held his
inaugural Sunday – will deliver the invocation.
Tamara McCaw, who organizes "Come Share the Dream,"
told The Brooklyn Papers that this year’s celebration will be
particularly eventful because Markowitz, whose office is a sponsor
of the event, has for years represented a largely Caribbean-American
constituency in the state Senate. What’s more, his deputy borough
president, Yvonne Graham, who is the celebration’s emcee, is
Caribbean-American. Given Brooklyn’s large and growing Caribbean
population, she said, this is both significant and appropriate
for the MLK event.
Featured speaker Russell Simmons is a native New Yorker who came
of age in the late ’70s just as hip-hop was emerging as a major
phenomenon in the city’s black communities. Early on, he realized
that hip-hop’s appeal could cut across the boundaries of race,
class and geography. At the same time, he foresaw that hip-hop
could evolve from a form of musical expression to a form of cultural
and lifestyle expression.
As the chairman of Rush Communications Inc., a diversified multimedia
company, Simmons oversees the management of all his companies
– Def Jam Recordings, Phat Farm clothing, SLBG and Def Pictures
in film, HBO’s "The Def Comedy Jam" and "One World
Music Beat" in television, and One World magazine.
McClurkin has worked with numerous gospel artists including gospel
legend Andrae Crouch. He has also performed as lead singer for
his own vocal groups – the McClurkin Singers and the New York
Restoration Choir.
An appearance on the Oprah Winfrey show and the song "I
am" on "The Prince of Egypt" inspirational CD
catapulted McClurkin into fame and set the stage for his much
anticipated release "Live in London and More" (BMG,
2000), featuring the hit single "We Fall Down."
SRC All-City Chorale director Sheila Ravenel pulls talent from
churches, choirs and groups all over New York City to fill out
her 90-member choir, which performs as a chorus for various events
around the New York area. In 1999, she was choir coordinator
for the Lincoln Center Festival’s "Gospel Extravaganza"
at Avery Fisher Hall featuring McClurkin, Shirley Caesar, Hezekiah
Walker, Helen Baylor and Yolanda Adams – a role that earned Ravenel
acclaim.
The Jan. 21 celebration will also include remarks by Markowitz,
who created and sponsored the Martin Luther King Concert Series
in Wingate Park; BAM president Karen Brooks Hopkins; BAM executive
producer Joseph Melillo; and Dr. Edison Jackson, a Board of Education
member and president of Medgar Evers College, another sponsor
of the event.
Following the tribute, BAM Rose Cinemas will present a special
screening of Clark Johnson’s 2001 HBO film, "Boycott,"
which chronicles the 1956 Montgomery, Ala. bus boycott.
Actor Jeffrey Wright, who recently won the American Film Institute-TV
best actor award for his starring role as Martin Luther King
Jr., will introduce the screenings.
For Brooklynites who believe Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day should
be celebrated by something more than sleeping late, going shopping
and enjoying a day off from work or school, the BAM tribute is
an excellent way to honor the man and his work. It’s also great
entertainment for the entire family.
"Brooklyn Tribute to Dr. Martin
Luther King Jr. – Come Share the Dream" starts at 10:30
am. "Boycott" screenings are at 1 pm and 4 pm. Both
events are free, and seating is available on a first-come, first-seated
basis. The BAM Howard Gilman Opera House and BAM Rose Cinemas
are located at 30 Lafayette Ave. at Ashland Place. For more information,
call (718) 636-4111 or visit www.bam.org.
