MLK Celebration with Dance Performances

Enjoy New Haven’s MLK Celebration with Dance Performances by Artsucation Academy Network’s Keepers of the Culture Performing Arts Company and the Neighborhood Music School Premiere Dance Company, and storytellers Clifton Graves, Waltrina Kirkland Mullins, and Joy W. Donaldson as part of the Yale Peabody Museum’s 24th Annual “Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Legacy of Environmental and Social Justice.”
The dance performance is a collaborative piece embodying the theme of the arts as a weapon of social justice with a focus on community building, the impact of bullying on the mental health of youth, honor for civil-rights pioneers, and celebration of African-American culture, strength, and perseverance.
Held in honor of Dr. King and his efforts to ensure environmental and social justice among all people, the event offers inspirational stories relating to the legacy of African American slavery and the civil rights movement, with songs of resistance and audience participation woven in.
Visitors can also view the New Haven Museum’s permanent exhibit, “Cinque Lives Here: The Amistad Story,” which features the most significant collection of material from the Amistad incident (1839-1841). It includes the portrait of Sengbe Pieh/Joseph Cinque, leader of the revolt; the painting of the schooner La Amistad; a letter from Kale, one of the captives; and a letter to the captives from John Quincy Adams, who argued successfully on behalf of the Africans before the US Supreme Court and secured their freedom.
11 a.m. – Joy Donaldson – “Martin Luther King Jr. in Word and Song”
12 p.m. – Waltrina Kirkland Mullins – “We’ve Come a Long Way! MLK Celebration in Prose, Poetry, and Song!”
1 p.m. – Clifton Graves, Jr. – “Dr. King and Me” & “The Chicken and the Eagle”
2 p.m. – Artsucation™ Academy Network’s Keepers of the Culture Performing Arts Company and the Neighborhood Music School Premiere Dance Company
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Legacy of Environmental and Social Justice” is a two-day celebration organized by the Yale Peabody Museum each year. For more information visit: http://peabody.yale.edu/