MADISON, Wis. — The MLK Community Choir is set to perform a collection of freedom songs at the Overture Center on Monday evening to celebrate the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday.
“It was exciting to be able to sing about our struggle, to celebrate Martin Luther King and his fight for us to have equal rights,” choir member Rene Robinson said.
The choir held its last rehearsal Saturday morning at the Mt. Zion Baptist Church where Robinson has been a member of the gospel choir for 22 years.
“The spirit of singing, the enjoyment of singing, the fullness of it, that’s a beautiful thing to experience every year,” Robinson said.
The MLK Community Choir is open to anyone, regardless of background, something Robinson is proud of.
“I love the diversity now,” she said. “It’s very diverse and that was very welcoming to me to know that other people of other ethnicities care about our struggle.”
Another member of the choir, Kathy Maldegen, is excited to celebrate someone she’s always admired.
“MLK is so significant,” she said. “My mother marched with him in Detroit. We wanted to go with her and she wouldn’t let us.”
Robinson said she’s grateful for the support and hopeful for the future.
“I just want to encourage people to continue to strive to do their best at accomplishing the goal of togetherness throughout this MLK season,” she said.
The choir, led by Leotha Stanley and Tamera Jennings-Stanley, will perform at the MLK Ecumenical Service at First Unitarian Society in Madison at 4:30 on Sunday and at 5:15 on Monday at the Overture Center for the 38th Annual Madison-Dane County King Holiday Observance.
The celebration also includes a keynote speech by Donzaleigh Abernathy, an award-winning actress and writer and the goddaughter of Martin Luther King Jr. and daughter of the Rev Ralph Abernathy. It will also see the presentation of the MLK Humanitarian Award by Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway and Dane County Executive Joe Parisi.
To see a list of events happening in your area or to submit an event, visit the Channel 3000/Madison Magazine Community Calendar here.
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