COURIER LIFE, JAN. 21–27, 2022 39
OUR ESSENTIAL GUIDE TO THE BOROUGH OF KINGS
BY KIRSTYN BRENDLEN
The Brooklyn Academy of Music
held their annual tribute to Martin
Luther King Jr. on Jan. 17, inviting
lawmakers and activists to punctuate
a morning of songs and performances
with promises to continue King’s work
two days after what would have been
his 92nd birthday.
Brooklyn Borough President Antonio
Reynoso served as the event’s
master of ceremonies, guiding the audience
— who watched in-person and
via livestream — through a keynote
speech by Dr. Imani Perry and musical
performances by Nona Hendryx
and gospel choir Sing Harlem.
“The day he died my family sat at
the dinner table and held hands and we
wept, because we knew that this was
a tremendous loss,” said Gov. Kathy
Hochul. “It inspired me to realize that
his work must carry on, all of us must
carry on his work, even decades later,
because the work is not fi nished, my
friends, the work is far from fi nished.”
More than remembering his words,
Hochul said, New Yorkers need to examine
how they can help each other —
especially through the dark and diffi -
cult days of the pandemic.
“Why did more Black men and
women die from COVID than they
should have?” Hochul said. “Why did
they not live in an area with quality
healthcare that would have lifted them
up from that?”
Racism is a public health crisis,
Hochul said, and she has commissioned
Mary Bassett, the new commissioner
of the state’s health department,
to examine disparities in healthcare
outcomes for Black New Yorkers.
A day after attending a funeral for
victims of the horrifi c fi re at a Bronx
apartment building, Councilmember
Crystal Hudson, who represents parts
of north and central Brooklyn, used
her speech to remember the victims
and push for real change that would
have kept the victims alive.
Most of the residents of Twin Parks
North, the scene of the Jan. 9 fi re, and
most of its victims, were Gambian, she
said, and had settled in the building
after Abdoulie Touray and his family
moved in, starting what would become
a tight-knit community.
Within the city, she said, calling
for just housing and holding neglectful
landlords accountable is necessary
and a continuation of King’s work.
Across the country, she called for more
— the abolition of the fi libuster and the
passage of the Freedom to Vote Act and
the John Lewis Voting Rights Act.
“The legacy of Jim Crow and the
deep roots of white supremacy have
clearly ignored Dr. King’s call for
change,” Hudson said. “Our democracy
depends on each of us to actively
participate and hold ourselves accountable
to its success. It is imperative we
answer democracy’s call for help. If we
ignore it yet again, we may very well
lose our democracy.”
BAM commissioned a fi lmed performance
of “King,” a dance set to his
speech “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop,”
which he delivered the day before his
assassination in 1968. Choreographed
and performed by Kyle Marshall, the
performance fi rst premiered in 2018 to
commemorate the 50th anniversary of
King’s murder.
The tribute was just part of BAM’s
programs to honor and remember the
historic civil rights activist, accompanying
a digital installation, a series of
performances by Fist & Heel Performance
Group, and a screening of “Attica,”
a documentary chronicling a
1971 uprising against guards and prisons
at the infamous prison.
Honoring a
great legacy
Pols join artists at BAM’s annual
tribute to Martin Luther King Jr.
(Left) Keynote speaker Dr. Imani Perry speaks onstage at the 36th Annual Brooklyn Tribute
to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. at Brooklyn Academy of Music. (Above) Nona Hendryx performs
onstage with Craig Harris and Tailgaters Tales.
Photo by Astrid Stawiarz/Getty Images for Brooklyn Academy of Music