MLK Keynote Address

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Harry Belafonte has been called the consummate entertainer. His distinguished career spans motion pictures, television, Broadway, recordings and concerts.

Belafonte’s concert tours have been worldwide sellouts since 1956, and his charismatic live show was captured on the double album “Belafonte at Carnegie Hall”. He has also been instrumental as a patron and supporter of black musicians, including acclaimed South African artists Miriam Makemba and Hugh Masekela.

He has dedicated his life to humanitarian and civil rights causes, working with President John F. Kennedy, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Nelson Mandela. Belafonte believes that his work for human rights and his artistic pursuits give him the basis for a most productive and well-balanced life. In 1985, he played a central role in organizing the USA for Africa famine relief recording of “We Are the World” and has been a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador since 1987.

Belafonte has recently returned to his first love, acting, starring in two motion pictures White Man’s Burden, with John Travolta, and Robert Altman’s film, Kansas City.

Preceeding the keynote speaker, we will be graced with the performances of Sweet Honey in the Rock and Dede Priest.

Founded by Bernice Johnson Reagon with Carol Maillard, Louise Robinson and Mie in 1973 at the D.C. Black Repertory Theater Company, Sweet Honey In The Rock, internationally renowned a cappella ensemble, has been a vital and innovative presence in the music culture of Washington, D.C., and in communities of conscience around the world.

From Psalm 81:16 comes the promise to a people of being fed by honey out of the rock. Honey - an ancient substance, sweet and nurturing. Rock - an elemental strength, enduring the winds of time. The metaphor of sweet honey in the rock captures completely these African American women whose repertoire is steeped in the sacred music of the Black church, the clarion calls of the civil rights movement, and songs of the struggle for justice everywhere.

Brandishing Blues vocals rooted in the Texas Soul tradition, Dede Priest has been honored by comparisons to many great vocalists, including Etta James, Aretha Franklin, Billie Holiday, Mahalia Jackson, and Willie Mae Thornton, among others. Her stage presence and warm rapport with her audience reveals her love of her art and her need to share it. Referred to as a “Modern Day Blues Queen”, Dede Priest is powerful, soulful, and emotionally intense, delivering a style that is sweetly reminiscent of the “old school”, yet new, unique, and all her own.

TICKET AVAILABILITY   ($15 and $25)

• Online ticket sales hav eended. Tickets are available for purchase at the door.