Some 150 members of choir ensembles from Syracuse University and churches
of the Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance will lift their voices during
the 16th Annual Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration,"Lift Ev'ry Voice: A
Call to Courage, Hope, Struggle," Jan. 20 in the Carrier Dome.
The annual event is expected to draw more than 2,000 people for an evening
that will feature traditional African American cuisine; a multimedia program
of music, dance and dramatic presentations; and a keynote address by Cornel
West, University Professor of Afro American Studies and Philosophy of Religion
at Harvard University.
Tickets for the dinner, which begins at 5:30 p.m., are sold out. The program,
which begins at 6:30 p.m., is free and open to the public. Seating is available
in the Dome stands for those who want to attend the program and hear West's
address.
"We have been anticipating Dr. West's visit for a long time,"
says the Rev. Thomas V. Wolfe, dean of Hendricks Chapel. "We are grateful
that this is a regional celebration where the SU and greater Syracuse communities
come together to be reminded of the possibilities of Dr. King's legacy for our
own time. It is our goal that the event embody Dr. King's ideals and that it
inspires each of us to renew and reclaim the dream where we work and live."
In addition to the evening festivities, West will present a keynote address
earlier in the day during a Martin Luther King Jr. celebration at Hopps Memorial
C.M.E. Church, 1110 S. State St., presented by the Syracuse Region Martin Luther
King Jr. Commission. The event, "Breaking Down the Barriers," begins
at 11:30 a.m. and is free and open to the public. West will also present a seminar
that is open to all SU students, faculty and staff at 3 p.m. in Maxwell Auditorium.
West's keynote address at the Carrier Dome will be preceded by a program
designed to chronicle a century of human courage, hope and struggle in the face
of a society torn apart by racism, violence and man's inhumanity to man. The
program will also celebrate the music and poetry of James Weldon Johnson, who
inspired King and whom he frequently referenced in his writings and speeches
throughout the Civil Rights Movement. Kyle Johnson, a senior electronic media
production major in the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, will
play the role of James Weldon Johnson.
The program will feature performances by the Black Celestial Choral Ensemble
of Hendricks Chapel and the mass choir under the direction of G. Burton Harbison,
SU director of choral activities and associate professor of voice.
The celebration will also include the presentation of the annual Unsung
Hero and Heroine Awards. The awards are presented to people from SU and the
greater Syracuse community who exemplify the spirit, life and teachings of King
but who are not widely recognized for their efforts.
This year, awards will be presented to Inez Mack, volunteer director of
the Hopps Memorial C.M.E. Outreach Program; Larry Williams, conflict mediation
and resolution specialist at Liverpool High School; Aaron Kingson, a senior
at Fayetteville-Manlius High School; Shenea Hunt, a junior information management
and technology major in SU's School of Information Studies; and Adrea Jaehnig,
associate director of SU's Office of Residence Life.
A scholar, theologian and activist, West is one of America's leading public
intellectuals working to create an alternative vision of ethnic and race relations
for America. He is the author or editor of 15 books, including "Restoring
Hope: Conversations on the Future of Black America" (Beacon Press, 1999),
"The Cornel West Reader" (Basic Dutton/Plume, 1999) and "The
Future of Race" (Vintage Books, 1996).
His critically acclaimed book, "Race Matters" (Beacon Press,
1993), achieved best-seller status in both the hardcover and paperback editions.
Critics hailed the book for bridging the gulf between black and white America
with enormous resonance and moral authority, within which West tackles questions
of politics, economics, ethics and spirituality, and addresses the crisis in
black leadership.
