port of harlem snippets
 

August 15 - August 28, 2003

 



40th Anniversary Celebration of the
March on Washington



Flashback: President Kennedy introduces a civil rights bill and the nation's most influential leaders call for a rally to signal their support. On August 28, 1963, a quarter of a million people from all walks of life respond and come together at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. USA.

An assassin soon kills Kennedy. Vice President Johnson becomes President and signs the bill into law in 1964. To celebrate the march, these and other events, all which are free, will take place in Washington, D.C.:





Friday, Aug 22

6:30p - 9:00p Bearing Witness to a Dream Deferred. National Museum of American History, Carmichael Auditorium, 14th and Constitution Avenue, NW. A roundtable discussion with Congresspersons John Lewis (D-GA) and Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), and Rev. Walter E. Fauntroy, Plus, Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) field organizers and members of the SNCC Freedom Singers, Rutha Mae Harris and Charles Neblett.

7:00p Screening of Brother Outsider - The Life of Bayard Rustin with special guests and post-screening discussion. The Kennedy Center for The Performing Arts; 2700 F Street, NW. Pre-Screening Reception/Cash Bar, 6:00p.

we reprint the following film review from the November 2002 - April 2003 print issue of Port of Harlem. Port Of Harlem also sponsored an advanced screening on the film.


Brother Outsider: The Bayard Rustin Story





Bayard Rustin was one of the most prolific figures during the Civil RightsMalcolm X with Bayard Rustin Movement. The documentary Brother Outsider: The Life of Bayard Rustin, explores his life. PBS will air the film Tuesday, January 21, 2003 at 10p ET (check local listings). "If one gets out and begin to defend ones right and the rights of others, spiritual growth takes place," was his constant battle cry.
One of his most significant contributions was his work as the Coordinator and Executive Director for the 1963 March on Washington. He advised Dr. King and President Johnson. Rustin debated Malcolm X and Kwame Toure. He was openly gay.

Eleanor Holmes Norton
questioned it best when she asked, "Why did he remain in the background, why was he the advisor to this, that or the other great person, but never himself coming forward in the full measure of his great talent?" She simply replied, "I think because he recognized that in a world in which homosexuality was roundly condemned, he would be a liability to movements or to those he advised."
7:30p Prayer Vigil at Lincoln Memorial
9:00p Spoken Word on Washington (Open Mic Poetry) at Lincoln Memorial

Saturday, Aug. 23
11:00a - 1:00p - Session I - Workshop Teach-In at Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool
1:00a - 3:00p Session II - Workshop Teach-In at Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool
3:30 - 5:30p Mass Rally at Lincoln Memorial

Tuesday, August 26
6:30p - 8:30p Patrick Henry Bass Booksigning
Karibu Bookstore
Bowie Town Center Mall - Bowie, MD
(301) 352-4110

Patrick Henry Bass will discuss and sign Like a Mighty Stream: The March on Washington August 28 1963.

Bass, the books editor at Essence and coauthor of In Our Own Image, eschews dry, documented history in favor of interviewing people who participated in the event and writing from the heart. The result is a compelling, emotional narrative that brings to life the trials and tribulations of Black Americans in the era, the struggles over organizing the march and its resounding success.

Thursday, August 28
Let Freedom Ring
Kennedy Center Millennium Stage

Ossie Davis
hosts an evening of reflections and music. Music by Metropolitan Baptist Music Ministry and Georgetown University Gospel Choir.

Tuesday, September 2 - Tuesday, September 30, 2003

Photographer's Collective at International Visions Gallery
2927 Connecticut Avenue, NW

Images by Robert Houston and Port Of Harlem contributing photographer Jonathan B. French commemorate the 40th Anniversary of the March on Washington. Opening Reception is Saturday, September 7, 2003 from 6p - 8p.



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