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As we head into a long holiday weekend to celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, there are many events taking place around New York City in honor of the legendary civil rights activist. You can pay tribute to King’s memory by attending a concert, volunteering at a park, visiting a museum and more. Here are 10 of our picks for how to celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr. Day in New York City:
The Apollo and WNYC will host the 13th Annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Celebration, “Unsung Champions of Civil Rights from MLK to Today,” on Sunday, January 20th. The event, hosted by WNYC’s Peabody Award-winning host Brian Lehrer and All Things Considered host Jami Floyd, will “pay homage to the unheralded heroes who paved the way for the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s as well as contemporary social justice activists” through a mix of one-on-one interviews and panels. Guests include Presiding Leader of the Episcopal Church Bishop, Michael Curry, President of the NAACP NY State Conference, Dr. Hazel Dukes, President & CEO of the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute Andrea Taylor, acclaimed New York Times photographer Chester Higgins, Jr., and host of WNYC’s Caught and The United States of Anxiety podcasts Kai Wright. The interviews and panels will also be accompanied by a photo exhibition and special performances by Freedom Singer Rutha Harris and members of Urban Word NYC – a youth literacy arts organization. This evening is presented as part of The Apollo’s Uptown Hall Series.
The event will take place from 3:00pm to 5:00pm. It is free and open to the public but registration is required. You can register for tickets here.
The Museum of the City of New York’s current exhibition, Activist New York, explores social activism in New York City from the 17th century through to the present day. The museum invites visitors to honor Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on January 21st by taking inspiration from the exhibit to create your own protest poster for an issue that you wish to see improve. This activity is free with museum admission from 11:00am until 2:00pm. Registration is suggested. You can register here.
Photograph by Beowulf Sheehan Courtesy of BAM
For thirty-three years the Brooklyn Academy of Music has brought together world-renowned activists, public figures, civic leaders, and musicians to celebrate the memory of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.. BAM’s annual MLK Day event is New York City’s largest public celebration in honor of the iconic civil rights leader. The day is full of programming which includes a movie screening, art exhibition, and concert featuring performances by Oddisee and The Brooklyn Interdenominational Choir.
The event is free and open to the public. It will be held on Monday, January 21st at 10:30am inside the Peter Jay Sharp Building, BAM Howard Gilman Opera House. Tickets will be distributed on a first come, first served basis with lobby doors opening at 8:00a.m.
For 2019 the NYC Parks Department is continuing its tradition of hosting a Day of Service in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.. On Monday January 21st volunteers can help restore the Flushing Meadows wetland, clean up Kaiser Beach or remove invasive plants from the forest of Seton Falls Park. Space is limited and registration is required. You can sign up here. Be sure to dress in clothes that can get dirty, warm layers, durable boots or sneakers, and bring a water bottle!
Catch a performance of Turning 15 on the Road to Freedom: My Story of the 1965 Selma March, a play adapted from author Lynda Blackmon Lowery’s book of the same name. The play and book tell of Lowery’s experience of as the youngest person to walk all the way from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, on the Voting Rights March in 1965. There will be four performances, Saturday, January 19th at 2:00 pm and 7:00 pm and Sunday, January 20th at 2:00 pm and 6:00 pm. Following both 2:00pm performances guests can join Pastor Amy Butler and author Lynda Blackmon Lowery for a talkback. Before those matinee performances there will be a pre-show performance by The Riverside Inspirational Choir. You can purchase tickets here.
Photograph by Rachel Neville, Courtesy of Harlem Dance Theatre
Arthur Mitchell founded the Dance Theatre of Harlem shortly after the assassination of Dr. King as a place to offer children, especially those in Harlem, the opportunity to learn about dance and the arts. Now in its 50th season, Dance Theatre of Harlem has grown into a renowned, multi-cultural dance institution that brings innovative and bold new forms of artistic expression to audiences in New York City, across the country and around the world. This year, the Dance Theatre of Harlem is bringing their work to the Kupferberg Center for the Arts for Queens College’s fifth-annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day commemoration.
You can purchase tickets here for the performance on Sunday, January 20th at 4:00pm.
The Black Comic Book Festival at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture is a two day event that brings creators, illustrators, writers, and independent publishers together with thousands of collectors, blerds and nerds. The festival consists of interactive panel discussions, a vendor marketplace featuring exclusive titles by Black creators, a cosplay show, and more! Participants are also invited to contribute to the Schomburg Center’s growing collection of Black independent comic books by bringing single copies of old or new titles from their home collection. All donations will become a part of the Schomburg’s unique and growing archive documenting Black comics and the Black speculative arts movement.
The event is free and open to the public, Friday, January 18 from 12 PM to 7:30PM and on Saturday, January 19 from 10 AM to 7:30PM. You can register here.
Image Courtesy of Manhattan Country School
The Manhattan Country School’s Commemorative March, this year entitled “Changing the System: Marching Toward Justice,” is an annual tradition upheld by the passion and leadership of the school’s students and the school’s commitment to achieving Dr. King’s dream of unity, peace and equity. Along the route of the march, which includes historically significant stops like Frederick Douglass Circle, Low Library at Columbia University and the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine, eighth graders in groups of three or four will deliver speeches.
The march will take place January 21st from 10:00a.m. to 2:00p.m. and the public is invited to participate. You can see the whole route here.
Photograph by Joshua Bright Courtesy of Wave Hill
The Freedom Quilting Bee at Wave Hill carries on a tradition of quilt making that started during the Civil Rights movement in rural Alabama. Families are invited to Wave Hill to craft their own colorful creations out of squares of donated fabric to honor Dr. King’s Birthday and the inspiring women quilters of Gee’s Bend, Alabama. This activity is free and open to the public along with free admission to the grounds until noon on Saturday, January 19th.
The Prospect Alliance is offering a full day of family-friendly programming inside the park on January 21st. Visitors can hear stories from Tammy Hall at Lefferts Historic House, explore the natural habitat of the park, play nature based games, and learn about animals at the Audubon Center. The 2:00pm storytelling session is already sold out, so reserve your spot for 3:00pm here and visit the Prospect Park website for the full day’s schedule.
If you are looking to get out of the city for this long holiday weekend, head up to Pleasantville, New York for The Jacob Burns Film Center’s screening of the historic James Baldwin documentary, Take This Hammer. Less than an hour long train wide away from Grand Central Terminal, The Jacob Burns Film Center is a nonprofit cultural arts center in upstate New York. The documentary, created by author and activist James Baldwin, takes place in California in the spring of 1963. Baldwin uses the film to illustrate “the real situation of Negroes in the city, as opposed to the image San Francisco would like to present.” JBFC will show the controversial original version, which includes 15 minutes of footage featuring scenes of young people, including Black Muslims, speaking about their lives and the police. Portions of this film were featured in the Academy Award-nominated documentary I Am Not Your Negro.
You can but tickets for the 5:10pm screening on Monday, January 21st here.
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