By Peter Sorkin
The 3 1/2-hour presentation in the Performing Arts Center at 31-10 Thomson Ave. is sponsored by the borough president's office and the African-American Heritage Planning Committee, said Andrew Jackson, director of the Langston Hughes Community Library and Cultural Center in Corona. Jackson has worked for the Langston Hughes Community Library and Cultural Center for 20 years.
King, the famous civil rights leader who rose to fame while advocating a policy of passive resistance, first gained national prominence in 1956 when he led the boycott by Montgomery, Ala. blacks against the segregated city bus lines. In 1963, he led a historic march on Washington attended by more than 20,000 people and a year later he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. He was assassinated by James Earl Ray on April 4, 1968.
Jackson said the celebration will help the younger generation learn about the civil rights struggle and to identify with it.
“It's a way of recognizing a person who has made contributions not just to the African-American community but to American society as a whole,” said Jackson, who has also chaired the African-American Heritage Planning Committee for four years.
“He was the voice of the civil rights struggle and he made the ultimate sacrifice,” Jackson said. “We owe it to him and all the unsung heroes and 'sheroes' to pause and say thank you for all they've done and all that on their behalf.”
The celebration will begin at 5:30 p.m. with a photography exhibit by Benedict Fernandez, who was a close friend of King's. His exhibit, titled “Countdown to Eternity,” will feature pictures and essays of King's life throughout the 1960s, said Tyra Emerson, co-chairwoman of the African-American Heritage Planning Committee. Emerson also works as a coordinator for the Cultural Collaborative of Jamaica.
“Our organization is part of the Queens borough president's office and the African-American History Month Planning Committee,” Emerson said. “We want everyone to get a chance to remember and reflect on what Martin Luther King Jr. did. We want them to go back to those basic values of peace and unity.”
Gail Mellow, president of LaGuardia Community College, Shulman and Jackson will discuss King's legacy before the Boys Choir of Harlem sings the National Anthem.
Elaine Jones, president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, will deliver the keynote speech, which will be followed by another Boys Choir of Harlem performance.
Jackson said the presentation will help to honor King's legacy, but it is the Boys Choir of Harlem that he is most excited about.
“It's great to hear the young voices of struggle,” Jackson said. “It's a great thing for them to show the community that they are free and for the community to share the experience. To hear them singing – it's like a resurgence of the civil rights struggle.”
“Some of us, because of our ages remember the whole Civil Rights Movement,” Emerson said. “But there are a lot of young people who did not live it or experience it. This celebration is our chance to share it with them.”
Tickets are available at the LaGuardia Performing Arts Center Box Office.
