It grew rather chilly as the Martin Luther King, Jr., Community Choir San Diego gathered on the Main Street Promenade at the Trolley Depot on Jan. 18. There was a glitch with the power, but once the choir started singing, everything—the hum of the nearby traffic, the buzz of bright retail store lights, even voices of playing children grew quieter.
It grew rather chilly as the Martin Luther King, Jr., Community Choir San Diego gathered on the Main Street Promenade at the Trolley Depot on Jan. 18. There was a glitch with the power, but once the choir started singing, everything—the hum of the nearby traffic, the buzz of bright retail store lights, even voices of playing children grew quieter.
The choir started off a cappella, but with power shortly restored with swift action by Lemon Grove Historical Society President Helen Ofield (on hand with cookies from Lemon Grove Bakery), the MLKCCSD plugged in and picked right back up in full force.
Led by Pastor Ken Anderson, MLKCCSD in full force is an engaging, intellectual and emotional experience. The concert was part of LGHS’s Lemon Grove Live series, in what Ofield referred to as “a musical birthday tribute to Dr. King.” Anderson and MLKCCSD pay tribute to King through the MLKCCSD every day, just by being together, and through its good works.
“Namesake makes it really special,” Anderson said. “The part of his dream, when he said he dreamed to have the different races together singing the Negro spiritual, our choir kind of lives that dream. We have so many different races singing in the choir, singing the spirituals. And the monies that we raise exclusively provide college scholarships in the performing arts so more people can join in the song.”
Anderson described how the imbalance in society when King made his “I Have a Dream” speech still resonates today. “For Martin in particular, this wasn’t about black rights, this was about human rights,” he said.
When the MLKCCSD performed the Negro spirituals, the audience is often given the story behind the songs. Negro spirituals, otherwise known as gospel, were sung during the times of the Underground Railroad. The history, the passion in the voices adds palpable depth and meaning to the MLKCCSD’s performances.
“All of the Spirituals, at this particular time of the year, MLK and even Black History Month which is coming, hold a spot because of the history of the music. How the music was used to facilitate the efforts of the Underground Railroad, and freeing slaves, and so there’s a double meaning. Not only spiritual strength, but also instruction on how to get away to freedom. Not just spiritual freedom but physical freedom as well,” Anderson said about each individual song.
Besides the powerful music, there was an auspicious aspect to the concert in the crowd of people that showed up excited to listen.
The people in the crowd—moved by the music, smiling throughout, seated close to each other, kindly chatting—were diverse. It did not seem to matter on an otherwise normal Lemon Grove Saturday evening, but like the spirituals, it gave King’s birthday tribute even greater meaning.
