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January 18, 2021
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Welcome to Lost Nation Theater’s 2021 Martin Luther King Jr Celebration Project

Thank you to all the artists and community members who participated, and made this dream come true by sharing your favorite quotes and excerpts of speeches, sermons, and letters, as well as songs of the civil rights movement.

Thank you for being part of the call to continue his work and celebrate his legacy.

We hope that everyone who sees this video is as inspired as we were by making it!

 

Extra special thanks to friends and colleagues Dawn M Ellis and Shanda Williams for collaborating with Artistic Directors Kim Bent and Kathleen Keenan to grow the germ of an idea into this video project.
(Video editing by LNT Producing Artistic Director Kathleen Keenan)

We hope it inspires you to do a little reflecting on, and determining what actions you can take to bring more light, hope, justice, and love to the world. 
And we are so grateful to everyone who made this project possible!
Given recent events in our nation, it seemed more important than ever to actively engage with and celebrate this holiday paying tribute to Dr King, and his dream of unity and equality for our country.

(A bonus feature, scroll below for video by Stanford Talisman Alumni Choir singing "Lift Every Voice")

Our thanks to our collaborators:

Contemporary Dance & Fitness Studio, Lisa Gaye Dixon, Dawn Ellis, Jessica Goodlin, Christine Harris, Mara Iverson, Kathy Johnson, Kathleen Keenan, Micheal Lowe, Moving Light Dance, Ginger Nickerson, Taryn Noelle, Abby Paige, Brandy Perez, Caleb Probst, Isadora Snapp, Shaun Stephens, Meredith Watson, Carolyn Wesley, Shanda Williams


Quotes and recitations from:

  • 11th Convention of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, August 16, 1967
  • The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr.
  • From a 1968 "Conversation with Martin Luther King," originally published in "Conservative Judaism," collected in "A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings and Speeches of Martin Luther King, Jr.," edited by James M. Washington, (Harper Collins, New York: 1986), p 661.
  • Letter from a Birmingham Jail
  • Our God Goes Marching On (How Long Not Long)
  • I’ve Been To The Mountaintop
  • Death to Evil on the Seashore
  • What’s Your Life’s Blueprint? 

Songs: Oh, Freedom by Shirley Verrett,  This Little Light Of Mine, Lift Up Your Voice and Sing, Amazing Grace
Additional underscoring Erik Walls, guitar, Sam Tolbert, piano, We Shall Overcome

Want to Know More?

Here's a great "all in one" place for inspirational quotes: https://www.keepinspiring.me/martin-luther-king-jr-quotes/ ids a good resource

Want to read Dr King’s Speeches/Letters? 

https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/our-god-marching 
https://www.crmvet.org/docs/otheram.htm
https://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkivebeentothemountaintop.htm
https://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkatimetobreaksilence.htm
http://okra.stanford.edu/transcription/document_images/Vol03Scans/256_17-May-1956_The%20Death%20of%20Evil%20upon%20the%20Seashore.pdf
https://www.csuchico.edu/iege/_assets/documents/susi-letter-from-birmingham-jail.pdf

 

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