BAM IS THE PLACE TO BE TO CELEBRATE THE BIRTHDAY OF MARTIN LUTHER KING

This is one of a series of posts dedicated to February's Black History Month.

It is well worth the morning wait in line for tickets to attend the Brooklyn Academy of Music's Tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. I knew it would be, based on last year's same celebration, where one of Little Rock Nine's Minney Jean Brown Trickey delivered a memorable keynote address.

This year, Danny Glover gave a short and powerful keynote speech which focused in part on the question "What would Martin Luther King, Jr. say about the conditions in Haiti?"

Glover's question was one that showed up in many of the speeches delivered by the morning's politicians: What would MLK have to say about what is going on today's world? And what would he do? One politician suggested that King would be leading a march on Washington to fight for health care reform.

Other highlights of the event included high-octane performances throughout the show by the New Life Tabernacle Mass Choir and by Kenny Muhammed, The Human Orchestra.