The tranquility and harmony idealized in Dr. King’s 1963 “I HAVE A DREAM†speech to “transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood†was shattered by the 1965 Riots in Watts.
“The way of riots is not a way of progress, but a blind ally of death and destruction which wrecks its havoc hardest against the rioters themselves’’ reasoned Dr. King on March 12, 1966. In an attempt to quell tensions, Dr. King came to Los Angeles and met with leaders and residents. Before leavening, Dr. King telephoned President Lyndon Johnson and recommended an immediate federal anti-poverty program in Los Angeles. President Johnson took the recommendation to heart and declared a war on poverty.
Jewish merchants were the main target of urban riots that swept Los Angeles and other major cities in the late 1960s. Rabbi Uri Miller (President Synagogue Council of America) and Rabbi Joachin Prinz(President American Jewish Congress) were speakers on the official MARCH on WASHINGTON program. Rabbi Prinz spoke immediately before Dr. King’s I HAVE A DREAM speech.
To honor the Jewish and African American cultures, soprano Juliana Gondek will perform Charles Osborne arrangement of Ki Eleicha and John Carter arrangement of the spiritual Let Us Break Together during the 50th Anniversary MLK Jr. ‘SYMPHONY of BROTHERHOOD’ Concert Sunday, August 18, 2013 the Colburn School of Music, 200 S Grand Avenue, downtown Los Angeles, in Zipper Hall.
The concert will feature Grammy Bass/Baritone Mark S. Doss and multi-ethnic performances of classical, opera and jazz repteroire.
For more information: www.musicuntold.com
