Community | Talks
The 35th Annual Brooklyn Tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Presented by BAM and the Office of the Brooklyn Borough President Eric L. Adams, in association with BRIC
We come together to honor iconic civil right leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. at this digital adaptation of our beloved annual event. Audience members from around the world are invited to join us for New York City’s largest public celebration of Dr. King’s legacy, a free virtual program featuring world-renowned activists, public figures, and civic leaders alongside musicians and other performers.
After a painful year, we take this moment to reflect and to move towards the future. We draw inspiration from Dr. King’s words, his life, and the actions of those around us who continue the fight for equality and justice. With a keynote address by Alicia Garza—author of The Purpose of Power, principal at Black Futures Lab, and co-founder of the Black Lives Matter Global Network—and performances by Grammy winner PJ Morton, Tarriona “Tank” Ball, Sing Harlem!, poets Timothy DuWhite and Ashley August, and other changemakers, this tribute to Dr. King grounds us in a message of hard-earned hope.
This event is available to view through February 28.
Performers in order of appearance:
Eric L. Adams
Brooklyn Borough President
Sing Harlem!
Tarriona “Tank” Ball
Laurie A. Cumbo
Majority Leader of the New York City Council
Ashley August and Timothy DuWhite
Letitia James
Attorney General for the State of New York
Charles E. Schumer
Senate Democratic Leader
Bill de Blasio
Mayor, New York City
Chirlane McCray
First Lady, New York City
Kirsten Gillibrand
United States Senator for New York
Corey Johnson
Speaker of the New York City Council
District 3, Manhattan NY
Eric Gonzalez
Brooklyn District Attorney
Scott Stringer
New York City Comptroller
Congressman Hakeem Jeffries
Congressman, US House of Representatives
New York's 8th Congressional District
Jumaane D Williams
New York City Public Advocate
PJ Morton
Alicia Garza
Keynote address
Season Sponsor:
Leadership support for programming in the Howard Gilman Opera House and off-site programs provided by:
Leadership support for BAM Access Programs provided by the Jerome L. Greene Foundation
Leadership support for the BAM Hamm Archives and BAM Film, Community, and Education programs provided by The Thompson Family Foundation
Major Sponsor:
Institutional support provided by Medgar Evers College
Alicia Garza is an organizer, political strategist, and cheeseburger enthusiast. She is the principal at the Black Futures Lab and the Black to the Future Action Fund, co-creator of #BlackLivesMatter and the Black Lives Matter Global Network, Strategy & Partnerships Director at the National Domestic Workers Alliance, and host of the Lady Don’t Take No podcast. Her acclaimed new book, The Purpose of Power: How We Come Together When We Fall Apart, offers an essential guide to building transformative movements to address the challenges of our time.
New Orleans-based singer-songwriter PJ Morton performs deeply soulful R&B with a passionate delivery that simultaneously comforts and entrances. A longtime keyboardist for Maroon 5 and music director for Solange, Morton boasts a roster of collaborators that include Lil Wayne, Busta Rhymes, and India.Arie. His albums Gumbo, Gumbo Unplugged, and Paul have all earned him Grammy nominations for Best R&B Album, with additional wins for Best Traditional R&B Performance in 2019 and a Best R&B Song in 2020.
Originally the breakout choir for Mama Foundation for the Arts’ School of Gospel, Jazz, and R&B Arts, this award-winning choir has flourished under the direction of Ahmaya Knoelle Higginson, serving as both a social impact initiative for young alumni and a commercial choir. They have performed at Lincoln Center, Saturday Night Live, and the Grammy Awards—among many others—and accompanied artists including Sting, Arianna Grande, and Madonna. All proceeds benefit the Mama Foundation’s music training programs, which are provided to the Harlem community tuition-free.
Hailing from New Orleans, Tarriona “Tank” Ball is the frontwoman of the Grammy-nominated Tank and The Bangas. The four-piece group has a rare knack for combining various musical styles—fiery soul, deft hip-hop, deep-drove R&B, and subtle jazz—into one dazzling, cohesive whole that evokes the scope of New Orleans music while retaining a distinctive feel all its own. Following their 2019 major-label debut album Green Balloon, the group released the EP Friend Goals in November 2020, with a host of features including PJ Morton, CHIKA, Pell, and Duckwrth.
Ashley August is Black, alive, and loves a good list! She is an Afro-Latina actress, author, playwright, activist, teaching artist, touring spoken word artist, third ranked woman poet in the world, ASTEP at Juilliard fellow, former Youth Poet Laureate of New York City, and one of The New York Times’ “30 Under 30 Most Influential People.” With Belize and Brooklyn embedded into her (he)art, August is motivated to speak the unsaid truth and push the boundaries of spoken word and performance to realms they’ve yet to live in.
Timothy DuWhite (he/they) is a Black/queer poet, actor, and activist based in Brooklyn. His essays and poetry can be found in The Rumpus, The Root, Afropunk, and elsewhere. His acclaimed one-man show NEPTUNE headlined Dixon Place’s Hot! Festival in 2018 and kicked-off Brooklyn Museum’s First Saturdays series in 2019. He is an alumnus of the Public Theater’s #BARS program, a member of the Public Theater’s Emerging Writers Group, and a BAM Resident Artist. Previous BAM appearances include Word. Sound. Power. 2019 and Essex Hemphill: Remembering and Reimagining.


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