Performers took the stage at Casa Nueva to honor Martin Luther King Jr. through poetry, song and more.
The weeklong celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. Day continued Wednesday night with various kinds of social justice-themed performances.
Casa Nueva hosted the third annual "Creative Arts as Activism," a specially themed open mic night. It featured several Ohio University students and Athens residents in a wide variety of performances from concertos to poetry.
Vocal performances included “When You Believe” from DreamWorks’ The Prince of Egypt and John Legend’s “If You’re Out There,” which received particularly enthusiastic applause from the audience that crowded around the small stage.
Two other performers sang Bob Dylan tunes while playing guitar — one of which Dylan performed at the March on Washington in 1963.
A trombone “love song” and a flute solo were also heard throughout the course of the evening. The smiling flute soloist read King’s famous “I Have a Dream” speech before performing her number and encouraged audience members to reflect on the struggle for civil rights during King’s time and before.
Another crowd favorite of the night was a skit portraying an encounter between King and Malcolm X. The two actors played out the scene in which the two prominent civil rights leaders argued heatedly about their different strategies for combatting racial injustice — King’s strategy being peace while Malcolm X’s focused more on violence and aggression.
Several popular poems written by black poets — including Langston Hughes’ “Song of Revolution” and “I Dream a World” — along with one student’s original poem were recited throughout the night as well.
Kaitlin Wilson, host of the event, recited Maya Angelou’s “Ain’t That Bad.”
“I picked the piece … because it’s an empower piece, especially as a woman of color,” Wilson, a junior studying performing and literary arts, said. “A lot of times, being black or being of color … is something that you’re not supposed to be proud of, and I think it’s great.”
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This is Wilson’s second year hosting “Creative Arts as Activism.”
Ebony Porter, co-coordinator for the event, said she began organizing the open mic night because she enjoys educating students and Athens residents about King’s work through the arts.
"There are so many ways for people to express themselves as we honor Dr. King," Porter, a student success adviser in the Allen Student Advising Center, said.
Zari Rose, a senior studying acting, said she attended the event to support her friends who were performing. She said she especially enjoyed the poetry readings.
Rose also acknowledged the importance of celebrating Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
“I think it’s important to celebrate because you see how far people have come, and how much people can relate to each other on this day, and how much farther we still have to come,” she said.
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