Black History Month event scheduled
EL CENTRO – The community is invited to a performance by the Martin Luther King Jr. Community Choir San Diego on Saturday in El Centro as part of a Black History Month celebration event.
Those interested in attending are asked to bring one or more nonperishable food item, or toiletries or clothing, to be distributed to the less fortunate in the Valley.
The event is being sponsored by Johnson Chapel Women’s Missionary Society and the Martin Luther King Jr. Commemorative Committee.
The performance will mark the first time that the renowned MLK Community Choir will perform in the Valley, said Marlene Thomas, MLK Commemorative Committee member.
Although Thomas said she has yet to see the choir perform live, that didn’t stop her from reaching out to the non-profit to inquire about possibly having it perform locally.
While the MLK Commemorative Committee has organized local Black History Month events in the past, none had quite matched the magnitude of Saturday’s concert.
“I thought it might be good for the Valley,” Thomas said.
The commemorative committee is partnering with Christ Community Church, the Church of Christ, and others
who maintain food pantries to distribute the donated items from Saturday’s event.
The concert will take place at 1 p.m. at Christ Community Church, 590 W. Orange Ave., El Centro. The venue’s state-ofthe-art audio equipment is expected to add to the audience’s enjoyment, Thomas said.
The MLK Community Choir San Diego is known for inspirational music, and celebrating the history of the Negro Spiritual. The choir has performed both nationally and internationally, including in the Czech Republic, Austria, Italy, Denmark and the Netherlands.
Two El Centro natives
will be among its dozens of singers, including cousins Linda Osborne and Judith Malone.
Malone, of San Diego, said she had started singing at the age of 5 and hasn’t let up since then.
“My grandparents discovered I had talent and they just started putting me out there,” Malone said.
Malone is the daughter of Mildred Davis Malone, a fellow contralto who was often referred to as the Dinah Washington of her day in the Valley, she said.
Osborne is the daughter of Gayzell Davis Osborne, who was a highly noted mezzo- soprano opera singer during her heyday as well, Malone said.
During her formative years, Malone was a local student of the late Frank Milton McCoy, a cele
brated African-American writer, musician, and educator.
It was during McCoy’s production of the musical “Carmen” that Malone had gotten her stage debut at the age of 7. At the time, McCoy had staged a number of musicals that local African Americans would regularly perform in.
“He was a person who guided me to be the person that I am today,” Malone said.
The contemporary jazz singer said she counts Gladys Knight among her greatest influences, and someone whose music she greatly enjoys singing on stage.
“Anything that I sing usually has to be heartfelt,” she said. “It has to have some substance and some meaning.”