The Connection

The Arlington County Department of Parks and Recreation is preparing for its 48th annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Tribute. This year, the tribute is returning to its roots by welcoming Arlington community members to perform in the event.

In its initial years, the event was based entirely on Arlington resident participation. Saundra Green, who worked for Arlington Parks and Recreation from the late 1960s up until recently, helped found the event. After the assassination of King, she and her colleagues realized that there was a need for the community to come together in commemoration.

“We wanted the program to address those things that were important to Dr. King,” said Green. “Peace and understanding, people working together. We wanted song and dance and spoken word. When we first started off we had community choirs and participation. Then we decided we wanted the community to be in the audience. We started to bring in renowned artists to be the entertainment.”

This year, Parks and Recreation, in collaboration with Lashley Consulting & Management Services, welcomed the community to participate once again via an open casting call. The casting call occurred Saturday, Dec. 3 at the Langston-Brown Community Center in High View Park. The area, also known as Hall’s Hill, is a historically black neighborhood and is the oldest community in Arlington formed by freed slaves.

That morning, Tyrell Lashley of Lashley Consulting opened the doors of the community center in hopes of finding some local talent for the program. He said he wanted to help “develop some community pride.”

Lashley, who hails from Washington, D.C. and is a graduate of the Duke Ellington School of the Arts, has experience working with D.C. Parks and Recreation as well as Disney. He and his team will assemble the lineup of performers for the event and hope to mix professional talent with local and youth performers.

The turnout for the casting call was moderate, but organizers are hoping to eventually instill a tradition of community involvement in years to come.

“We know that we have talent in the community but they might not know that they could participate in the program,” said Laura Barragan, who is the special events and communications manager for Arlington County Parks and Recreation.

Those who did turn out for the audition included students Rhea Turner and Amiya Williams who created an original dance to the song “A Better Land” by Heavy D & The Boyz.

“We created this ourselves. We choreographed this ourselves,” said Williams. Both girls spend six to 10 hours a week practicing tap, ballet, lyrical dance, and jazz. They said they chose to dance to the song because its positive message reflects King’s ideals.

In addition to student interest, a local teacher also turned up for the casting call. Anne Smith, who teaches arts education at Jefferson-Houston in Alexandria, presented an original spoken-word poem. In her poem she speaks from the perspective of Mahalia Jackson, a gospel singer who encouraged King to talk about his dream during the 1963 March on Washington.

“[The audience] was tired and hot,” said Smith. “He was losing them. Then Mahalia shouted out ‘Tell em’ about the Dream, Martin.’”

A church group, which was practicing for a Christmas show in the community center, decided to audition, even though they had not known about the casting call ahead of time.

The group members, who perform mime and call themselves Worship Without Words, is part of the Kingdom Fellow Church in Alexandria. They were led by 23-year-old Lyndsey Simms who has been practicing liturgical dance since the age of seven.

“While there was never a plan to audition, we take this opportunity to be able to give back to our community, to be able to minister in honor of one of the greatest African-American civil rights activists,” said Simms.

According to Lashley, the program really is all about service. “The show has a call to action,” he said. “[Audience members will] pledge to commit themselves to service.”

Barragan echoed that sentiment. “Our program is meant to be an uplifting evening which is also a call to action,” said Barragan. “The MLK holiday is really a day of service rather than a day of rest.”

When residents attend the program on Sunday, Jan. 15, they will be given a list of ways to serve the community on the following day, the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day holiday, and throughout the year.

In addition to welcoming performers, the event planners have been working with Arlington schools to highlight student art and writing. Students created written and artistic products in response to a prompt and submitted them. Outstanding submissions will be selected and included in a video that is presented during the show.

This tradition has been going on for a number of years and each year has a different theme. This year, students were asked to respond to King’s quote that “our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”

While performers and themes may vary slightly throughout the years, Green said that the message is eternally the same and as meaningful today as it was 50 years ago, if not more so.

“What the tribute highlights is very relevant,” said Green. “We really do need to promote peace. We really do need to be sensitive to diversity. We need to be sensitive to promoting non-violence.”

Green added that this message is vital to preserving the attitude of tolerance and acceptance that Arlington County works so hard to foster as it grows and becomes increasingly diverse.

What many newer and younger residents of the county don’t know about Arlington is that it has a deep and sometimes troubling past in terms of race relations.

Susan Kalish, public relations director for Arlington Parks and Recreation, described how the county was once highly segregated. The African-American neighborhood of Hall’s Hill was even separated from adjacent white communities by a wall.

However, according to Green, who was born in Arlington and remembers when it was segregated, the county was the first in Northern Virginia to desegregate. “Arlington was one of those places where the change happened more smoothly than other places,” said Green. “Doors opened up and opportunities opened up to African Americans.”

Green added that “Arlington has made an effort to recognize all people. To be sensitive to needs. They listen.”

The Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Tribute is an extension of Arlington’s celebration of diversity. All residents are encouraged to attend. The event will take place at Wakefield High School on Sunday, Jan. 15 from 5-6:30 p.m. The event is free but attendees can reserve a spot ahead of time. Find out more at MLKTribute.org.