BAMkids Celebrates MLK Day: If You Can’t Be the Sun, Be a Star!
This family friendly program, co-curated with the BAMkids Parent Advisory Circle, immerses young people in art forms that express the importance of acts of service and collaborative work, while knowing that your best doesn’t have to look like anyone else’s. Activities include imaginative movement, creating a collaborative tape mural, celebrating friendship and family in a vintage photo booth, and sharing inspirational messages. Guided by a diverse group of artists, kids will express creativity and build community, while learning about Dr. King’s life and mission.
Note from the BAMkids Parent Advisory Circle
We are honored to have the opportunity to co-curate this meaningful program for you. Today we focus on the “can” moments in life, and dream of a future full of possibilities—to strive to be the best version of yourself, and be motivated to contribute to something greater. These fun, family-friendly activities celebrate Dr. King’s legacy and encourage acts of service through collaborative mural making, coloring, movement, and fun trivia!
Hectah Arias
Vibhuti Arya Amirfar
David C. Brown
Kyung Jeon-Miranda
Danielle Medina
Sonya Freeman-Minnis
Bridgette Perry Ambrose
Mari Yahagi
Please note: This event has a planned schedule of activities. If you are late to your registered entry time, you may miss portions of the program.
UPCOMING Performances
VENUE
ACCESSIBILITY
TICKET INFORMATION
Leadership support for
BAM’s strategic initiatives provided by:
Leadership support for
BAM Access Programs provided by the
Jerome L. Greene Foundation
Leadership support for
BAM programming provided by:
Leadership support for
BAM’s strategic initiatives provided by:
Major Sponsor of
The 39th Annual Brooklyn Tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
provided by:
Leadership support for
BAM Community programs provided by
The Thompson Family Foundation
ACTIVITY MODULES
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11:45am, 1:30 & 3pmCommunity Movement - Shine Bright: Be the Star You Are!Kids will bring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s powerful words to life through movement. Using the famous 1967 speech from Barratt Junior High School,“If You Can’t Be the Sun, Be a Star,” artists Adia Whitaker and Jashua Sa-Ra will guide children in exploring creative ways to express these uplifting phrases. Through imaginative movement, participants will celebrate the message of being their best selves, no matter their size or role. Let’s move, learn, and shine together!
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11:45am, 1:30pm & 3pmA King's Quest: Fact Finding Fun about Dr. KingAlthough Dr. King is perhaps most known for his speech at the 1963 March On Washington, he is much more than "I Have A Dream." Inspired by an opportunity to explore Dr. King's humanity, complexity, and wide-reaching influence on social justice, civil rights, and pop culture, Jashua Sa-Ra and David C. Brown curated a learning adventure that uses riddles and clues to reveal fascinating facts about Dr. King and the people he inspired.
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Ongoing throughout each sessionCommUNITY Tape Mural: Creating the Stars TogetherDr. King said, "We can achieve more together than apart. This is how we gain power." Inspired by this idea, Parent Advisor Kyung Jeon Miranda invites participants to join in creating a collaborative tape mural, transforming it into something truly special through everyone's contributions.
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Ongoing throughout each sessionCapture the Moment: Vintage Star Booth“Without love, there is no reason to know anyone, for love will, in the end, connect us to our neighbors, our children, and our hearts.” Inspired by this message of connection that Dr. King shared, Jasiri Kafele and Sonya Freeman Minnis invite families to celebrate love, friendship, and family by capturing a timeless moment together in this beautifully designed vintage photo booth.
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Ongoing throughout each sessionSpread the Spark!In partnership with City Harvest
For your life's blueprint, Dr. King said one must be committed “to the Eternal principles of beauty, love, and justice.” We invite you to share an inspirational message to seniors and organizations in the community. -
Ongoing throughout each sessionActivity StationDr. King said, “We must use time creatively, in the knowledge that the time is always ripe to do right.” Sit down with a BAMkids activity sheet and pick up a BAMkids MLK Day tote bag to bring home to decorate in response to the prompt “If You Can’t Be the Sun, Be a Star.” Tote design by BAMkids parent advisor Hectah Arias.
Meet the Organizations + Artists
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Hectah AriasBrooklyn born and raised, Hector Arias—also known as Hectah—is an artist, husband, and dad. He spent a decade at Mass Appeal as a senior animator and art director. He has contributed to several projects, including Showtime’s Wu-tang Clan: of Mics and Men, Netflix’s Rapture, PBS’s Nas: Live at the Kennedy Center, and CNN’s Fresh Dressed. His most recent work is as an animator on Apple+ TV’s Louis Armstrong's Black & Blues, which earned him a Cinema Eye Honors nomination for visual design. He was also a teaching artist for award winning non-profits including El Puente, Art-Start, and Americorp’s Public Allies. Hectah joined the BAMkids Parent Advisory Circle in 2022.
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David C. BrownEast Flatbush native David C. Brown is a producer and writer with credits for Netflix, Hulu, Starz, ESPN+, Viceland, VH1 and more. He received two Sports Emmys for NBC’s coverage of the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games and a Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Lifestyle Program for Sparking Joy with Marie Kondo. The 2024 MGM+ series Hollywood Black, about the history of Black filmmakers, is a professional and personal highlight, premiering at the Tribeca Film Festival. David is an alumnus of Boston University and a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Incorporated via Sigma Chapter, the same chapter Dr. King was initiated into in 1952. He is humbled and proud to celebrate the humanity, legacy, and vision of this great man. David joined the BAMkids Parent Advisory in 2024.
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Jasiri KafeleJasiri Kafele (Brooklyn, NY) is an artist and painter known for blending abstract expressionism with vibrant, emotive color palettes. With a decades long expansive background, creating masterpieces for his clients, through bold brushstrokes and textured surfaces. Drawing inspiration from both classical and modern art movements, Jasiri's work invites viewers to experience a deeper connection to the emotions and stories conveyed on canvas. His art has been previously featured on stage in BAM's DanceAfrica.
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Sonya Freeman-MinnisSonya Freeman-Minnis is an actress, brand ambassador, and mom based in East New York, Brooklyn. Originally from Chicago, where she studied speech and drama at Harold Washington College, she’s now known as the person to call if you want to find out what events are going on in New York City. Minnis’s passion is advocating for a future of sustainability in fashion. She is committed to encouraging second-hand shopping, upcycling, reusing, reducing, and recycling. Minnis can be found at the latest NYC immersive experience with her daughter or shooting the latest SAG-AFTRA production at an NY film studio. Sonya joined BAMkids Parent Advisory in 2022.
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Kyung Jeon-Miranda
Kyung Jeon-Miranda is a Brooklyn-based artist known for her vibrant paintings that explore themes of identity, motherhood, and social justice. Drawing from personal experiences, her work reflects a deep commitment to storytelling and advocacy, blending whimsical imagery with thought-provoking narratives. With a passion for using art to spark awareness and change, Kyung’s practice highlights the intersections between creativity, lived experience, and cultural dialogue. Kyung joined the BAMkids Parent Advisory Circle in 2020.
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Jashua Sa-RaJashua Sa-Ra is an award-winning performance poet, author, event producer, host, lecturer, playwright, educator, graphic designer, and percussionist. He has produced and hosted several critically acclaimed performance events, including a festival in Brooklyn, NY, concerts, open mic venues, showcases, slams, and a variety of special events. He has published two CD's and a DVD of his poetry, two books of poetry, and four math books.
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Adia WhitakerAdia Tamar Whitaker, Artistic Director of the 24-year old Brooklyn based dance theater ensemble Àṣẹ Dance Theater EAST and the 15-year old Bay Area based dance theater ensemble Àṣẹ Dance Theater WEST, has performed contemporary dance, vernacular movement, Afro-Haitian, and Haitian dance in the U.S. and abroad for 22 years. Whitaker has traveled to Haiti, Cuba, Brazil, France, Germany, Spain, the Netherlands, Belgium, Ghana, Jamaica, Trinidad, Tobago, and Antigua to study, perform, and teach dance. Whitaker received an MFA in Dance from Hollins University, a BA in Dance from San Francisco State University, and attended The Ailey School. She was an Urban Bush Women Apprentice, a Maggie Allesee Choreographic Fellow, and an Isadora Duncan Award recipient. In 2019, Whitaker’s company performed at ODC, and she received the NYSCA/NYFA Award in Choreography and completed her first residency at the Kennedy Center. In 2021, Whitaker's choreography was featured in the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s Virtual DanceAfrica, and she completed a second residency at the Kennedy Center, and became a Gerbode Foundation Special Awards in the Arts Grant recipient and a curatorial artist for Albany Symphony Orchestra and Brooklyn Children’s Museum. In 2022, Whitaker and Dance Mission Theater received a Kenneth Rainin Foundation New Program Grant. In 2023, Adia was awarded a Brooklyn Arts Council Creative Equations Fund Justice, Equity, Sustainability, + Performing Arts Grant and a NEFA National Dance Project Production and Touring Grant.
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City HarvestCity Harvest is New York’s first and largest food rescue organization, collecting perfectly good food that would otherwise go to waste and delivering it—free of charge—to hundreds of food pantries, soup kitchens, and community partners across the five boroughs. This year, City Harvest will rescue and distribute more than 81 million pounds of nutritious food to New Yorkers experiencing food insecurity. Learn more at www.cityharvest.org.
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