“I Have a Dream” is a gospel musical about the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The major events of the Civil Rights Movement, depictions of King’s love for his family, his sense of humor, and the incredible sacrifices he and others made in the fight for racial equality are showcased. The two-act musical was performed Saturday, Jan. 13, at the Key Auditorium of St. John’s College, in Annapolis, Maryland.
The text of King’s speeches, sermons and writings are shaped into 28 musical numbers that carry us through his life. The time period of the musical starts with the bus boycotts in Montgomery, Alabama, and ends with King’s death at the Lorraine Hotel in Memphis, Tennessee, in April 1968. He was 39 years old when he died, having worked in the Civil Rights Movement since he was 26.
To most African Americans, King is a beloved leader, and the musical gives clarity as to why he was effective. He asserted that he would not turn back; there would be no “waiting.” He committed to his cause to the death.
Coretta Scott King is also beloved, and her adoration at least partly stems from the way she continued her husband’s cause, especially her leading the March in Memphis immediately after his death.
Here at Street Sense Media, we as a team have remarkable moments as, every year, we confer to discuss how to write about this great leader.
I was not at the rally he led in my hometown, Winona, Mississippi, in 1968, where he called the eight or so of us who had integrated the white school “8 Raisins in a Glass of White Milk.”
Willard Hotel is jutting on the corner across from the Wilson Building as I wait for the bus home from Street Sense Media. I see this place so often, sometimes I shoot birds with my camera, yet I linger on thoughts of King. I have heard so much about his raucous behavior at the Willard Hotel and the fetching of Dorothy Height to run and instill civilization within him and his team.
The most remarkable moments of all are Street Sense Media Vendor Angie Whitehurst being prodded by Junior to tell us what happened to her when she integrated schools here in D.C. In her reenactment, he is sitting in the last row in the room, being taught jitneys and how to jig at her demanding white teachers’ request. Junior insists she performs them for us as she was taught by her white teachers. She does.
The musical “I Have a Dream” showcases snapshots of events that an enslaved people of African descent plodded through and ahead of to be free. One can more easily see aspects of life in that period by the singing, utterances of words and the movement of the musical’s cast. Painful moments were twisted into a fun one for us here in Annapolis. We relish our history, glorify in our sufferings, as we seek to be free.
