Annual tribute to Rev. King draws full house
The house was packed for the 28th annual Woodstock Martin Luther King Jr. Tribute, which featured a fiery speech by the Rev. G. Modele Clarke of the New Progressive Baptist Church in Kingston.
The Sunday celebration also included a preview of the new musical drama “Fragile Explosion,” based on the life of Nina Simone.
Clarke pulled no punches as keynote speaker, broadly covering the history of black-white relations in the United States, from slavery to the rise of Jim Crow laws and segregation and current forms of racism.
“They try to tell the truth and wisdom of Black Lives Matter with the reactionary platitudes of ‘all lives matter’ and law enforcement responded with ‘blue lives matter.’ Fortunately, these analogies have short shelf lives,” Clarke said.
“We have entered a period of American history when people of conscience are beginning to ask, who will speak for us?” he said, noting that his “personal spokespersons” — such as Malcolm X, Maya Angelou and King — are all dead.
Clarke said several notables still speak out, “but America is looking for that voice that’s powerful, committed and sincere enough to attract and unite other voices in protest.”
Following Clarke, the gathering was treated to a preview of the musical historical play, produced by Michael Monesterial, starring Evelyn Clarke, backed by the Harvey Kaiser Kansas City Sound Band. It tells the life of activist-singer Nina Simone and her romance with Harlem detective Andrew Stroud.
The full performance of “Fragile Explosion” — expected to tour the Hudson Valley throughout 2018 — runs 90 minutes, with 30 minutes of drama and 60 minutes of musical performance covering songs by Simone. The preview on Sunday lasted 20 minutes and was well received by the audience.
Activist Pam Africa, who regularly speaks at the annual King event, canceled her appearance due to illness.
Woodstock Town Supervisor Bill McKenna also spoke at the event.