Music filled the Opera House at the Brooklyn Academy of Music during its 34th annual to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Keynote speaker Nikole Hannah-Jones created the NY Times Magazine's 1619 project which re-examines the legacy of slavery. She says it wasn't that long ago that Dr. King had to demand the most basic of rights.
“We have been here longer than almost all of your ancestors and yet we are still asking to be treated as citizens in the United States,” said Keynote Speaker, Nikole Hannah-Jones.
It's why this day is so important to Henry Dennis Senior, a Brooklynite by way of the south who says he looks forward to the BAM tribute every year.
“Back in the 60's, I could not go to eat at the counter at Woolworth's and their fountains. We had the colored fountain, we had the black fountain, I am from South Carolina, I remember those days,” said Henry Dennis Sr.
The BAM event is one of the largest MLK tributes in the city, there were others.
In the Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. and Reverend Dr. David Kelly from Christ Fellowship Baptist Church in Brooklyn led a service honoring the revered civil rights leader.
And Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez appeared at the annual MLK Now event at the Riverside Church in Morningside heights, where in 1967 Dr. King gave his famous speech, “Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence.”
The tribute at the Brooklyn Academy of Music stretched for hours. A who's who of New York politics spoke including Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, Mayor de Blasio, Public Advocate Jumanne Williams, City Council Speaker Corey Johnson, Brooklyn D.A. Eric Gonzalez and Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams.
“Dr. King on his broad shoulders with moral, intellectual strength and faith took a giant mirror and held it on his broad shoulders and with his eloquence he forced America to look into that mirror,” said Sen. Charles Schumer.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated at the age of 39. Those celebrating him today were reminded of his words. Anyone can be great, because anyone can be of service.