King’s courage celebrated
Trending
Dozens of people turned out Tuesday night to take in "King's Dream," a live performance and multimedia presentation at the Penn State Altoona campus.
Using music, historical photos, videos and newspaper clippings, Key Arts Productions highlighted the strife, courage and perseverance of the Civil Rights movement of the 1950s and '60s. Performers asked the audience if they would have supported the Little Rock Nine as they desegregated an Arkansas high school or if they would have joined the Freedom Riders who challenged nonenforcement of Supreme Court rulings that stated segregated public buses were unconstitutional.
Would you have joined Martin Luther King Jr. and other protestors on the march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, demonstrating for their right to vote, speaker Joseph Patterson asked.
Patterson took the audience from the Emancipation Proclamation signed by Abraham Lincoln all the way through the movement's history until King's assassination in 1968, touching upon other figures like Malcom X, Rosa Parks, Mahatma Gandhi, Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Marvin Gaye and Aretha Franklin.
Civil Rights issues such as segregation and the right to vote were interwoven with other timely issues like the Vietnam War and American politics abroad.
Performers Tasha Robinson and Nathan Harmon periodically joined Patterson on stage to sing Civil Rights-era songs.
Following a clip of King's iconic "I Have a Dream" speech, Patterson talked of King's assassination and enduring legacy, asking those in attendance how they would make a change.
The presentation "was a very good reminder" of the struggle for civil rights, said Altoona resident Jan
Grzesinski.
Grzesinski worked in Washington, D.C., on the day of King's speech. She and a few coworkers left the office that day and "walked all the way up the mall."
"There were lots and lots and lots of people," she recalled. "It was a nice day."
Grzesinski remembered living in Mississippi in June 1966 and taking her Black neighbors with her to New Orleans for Mardi Gras. However, they couldn't find an establishment that would serve them, she said.
"It's a whole different world now," Grzesinski said.
But while it's a different world today, she admitted racism is still a problem.
"Now it's much more subtle, but it's still there," she said. "People are not ready to change very easily."
Pittsburgh native Patty Betar, who attended the performance with Grzesinski, lived in the South during the civil rights movement.
Betar said she was appalled when she saw "White only" signs.
"You were just in shock," she said.
Cindy Barney said that while people can't change what happened in the past, they can "become aware of what the truth and the history is" and "make sure that we don't let that happen again."
Sue Patterson, Penn State Altoona's Director of Student Diversity and Inclusion Programming, said the performance showed history in a different light.
"We talk a lot about history, but to experience it in a different format and to see what really went on in his life and to see the need for what he did is really important," she said.
Penn State has other events and activities scheduled throughout the month to honor Martin Luther King Jr. and Black history.
A screening of the moving "Till" will be held at 6 p.m. Jan. 23 at the Slep Student Center. "Till" is based on the story of Mamie Till-Bradley, who pursued justice after the murder of her 14-year-old son Emmett in 1955.
Also at the Slep Student Center, at 6 p.m. Feb. 1, Odell Bizell, a nationally known author will speak on "When Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Meets Malcolm X."