Spanish-American Institute

Student Club Newsletter

215 West 43 Street Times Square Manhattan, New York 10036-3913

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January, 2008   Vol. 4, No. 1

 

January 21, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

 

 

“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” 

 

The Reverend Dr. King, Jr. was a black Civil* Rights leader and African-American minister.  He called for the end of racial discrimination in the United States that treated black Americans like second-class citizens.  He always advocated using non-violent means to bring about social change by leading civil* protests against discrimination.   

 

Slavery was abolished in the United States in 1865 after a bitter Civil War between the Northern and Southern States (sometimes called the War Between the States).  However, the Civil War did not end racial discrimination.  Martin Luther King, Jr. thought of a free society as an integrated one in which all people had equal access to public places, to the vote, and to quality education, housing, and jobs.  

 

In the American South in the 1950s, American Blacks were forced to sit in the back of public buses and to use “Negro” only restrooms and water fountains. They attended segregated schools.  In 1956, Dr. King organized a 382-day boycott [a refusal to buy, sell, use, etc.] of public buses in Montgomery, Alabama.  The boycott set the stage for a US Supreme Court decision declaring that segregation of blacks and whites on buses was unconstitutional.  In 1964, the US Congress passed the Civil Rights Act guaranteeing equal rights in housing, public facilities, voting, and public schools.

 

Dr. King received the Nobel Peace Prize that year.  Four years later, he was assassinated while leading a workers’ strike in Memphis, Tennessee. 

___

*As used above, civil means “of a citizen or citizens” or “a community of citizens.” Civil rights refer to those rights guaranteed to the individual by the US Constitution and by Acts of Congress.  They include the right to vote, exemption from involuntary servitude (slavery), and the rights of people to equal treatment under the law.

 

Civil can also refer to polite behavior.  Explain the relationship between the following words:  civil, civilian, civility, civilization. 

 

King’s Philosophy and Practice of Non-Violence

Dr. King practiced non-violent protest to bring about social change.  He believed that:  Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.  Hate multiplies hate, violence multiplies violence, and toughness multiples toughness in a descending spiral of destruction.” 

 

I Have a Dream . . .

Dr. King was a powerful orator [speaker].  On August 28, 1963, he delivered his famous I Have a Dream speech before more than 250,000 people in front of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington. The words under his picture above are from that speech.  “I Have a Dream” ends with these stirring words: 

Let freedom ring . . . .   Let freedom ring . . . .  Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

And when this happens, When we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"

Hear the speech and read the text at: www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/Ihaveadream.htm or find it at other websites by searching for “I have a dream.” 

I, Too, Sing America  by Langston Hughes (d. 1967)

 

I am the darker brother.

They send me to eat in the kitchen

When company comes  . . . .

 

Tomorrow.

I’ll be at the table

When company comes.

Nobody’ll dare

Say to me,

“Eat in the kitchen,”

Then.

 

Besides,

They’ll see how beautiful I am

And be ashamed—

 

I, too, am America.  

FREE Things to Do in NYC in January 2008

 

Saturdays at Chelsea Market.  Live music, tango dancing and lessons, and the Samurai Knife Sharpener in the Market hallways.  Through Jan. 15, view Andy Friedman’s pen and ink portraits of musicians, actors, writers, etc. 9th Ave. between 15th/16th St., , C , 2 ,or 3 trains  to 14th St. and walk west. 

 

Jan. 11, Sat. 5-11 pm.  Target Saturday at the Brooklyn Museum, free art, music, dancing, and entertainment.  Go to www.brooklynmuseum.org/visit/first_saturdays.php for full program.  2 or 3 trains to Eastern Parkway/Brooklyn Museum right outside Museum entrance. 

 

 Jan.-July.  Listening to Our  Ancestors:  Art of Native Life Along the North Pacific Coast.   National Museum of the American Indian.  One Bowling Green in the US Customs House.  Daily 10-5pm.   One Bowling Green, near northeast corner of Battery Park.  4/5 trains to Bowling Green, N/R to Whitehall, 1 to South Ferry.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jan. 6, Sun. 3pm.  Three Kings Day Concert and Celebration.  El Museo del Barrio, free tickets distributed beginning 1 pm at the box office, two per person.  1230 5th Ave. near 104th St., #6 Lexington Ave. train to 103rd St,; 2/3 trains to 110th St. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jan. 12, Sat. 8pm but arrive early.  New York Guitar Festival Interprets Bob Dylan Classics.  This very special tribute to Bob Dylan will be very popular so arrive early.  Winter Garden in the World Financial Center (WFC) in Battery Park City bordered by West Street, the Hudson River, and Vesey and Liberty Streets.  See map for WFC on school bulletin boards.  Any train  to lower Manhattan:  A, C, J, M, Z, 2, 3, 4 or 5 to Fulton Street/Broadway-Nassau: Exit onto Fulton Street and walk west to Church St.; turn right and walk to Vesey St.; turn left and continue across West St. to the WFC. E to World Trade Center:  Exit onto Church Street and walk north to Vesey St.; turn left and continue across West St. to the WFC. R or W to City Hall:  Exit onto Broadway and walk south to Vesey St.; turn right and continue to the WFC. 1 to Rector Street:  Exit onto Greenwich Street and walk north to Liberty St.; turn left and continue to the WFC.

 

Jan. 19, Sat. 3pm.  Sign Language MOVEment by Def Dance Jam Workshop.  Interactive performance by this “deaf” dance company.  El Museo del Barrio.  Free with Museum admission, pay-as-you-wish.  See directions for Jan. 6.

 

Jan. 20, Sun. 8:30pm.  Carnegie Hall Orchestra and Chorus Concert, Hayden and Brahms.  Up to 3 days before the concert, go to:  www.manhattanconcertproductions.com/tickets_form.html.  Complete the form using concert code CH620.  Send.  Pick up tickets on January 20th at Carnegie Hall Box Office after 2 pm.  7th Ave. and 57th St., B,D,E,N,Q,R or F to 57th St. or 7th Ave.  

 

Jan. 21, Mon. 7pm.  Julliard’s Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration.  Julliard School of Music’s students and alumni celebrate King’s life through dance, drama, and music.  Because of construction, look for directions to entrance.   Julliard School, Paul Hall, NW corner of Broadway and W. 65th St. (outside escalator to second floor entrance). 1 train to 66th St., A/B/C/D to 59th St./Columbus Circle and walk north to W. 65th and

Broadway. 

 

Jan. 22, Tues. 8pm.  Julliard Jazz Ensembles, original works by Julliard School of Music jazz students.  See directions for Jan. 21, above. 

 

Jan. 27, Sun. 2:30pm.  Musica Bella Orchestra and Chorus, Bach Mass in B Minor.  Donation required—pay what you wish.  Blessed Sacrament Church, 152 W. 71st between Broadway and Columbus Ave., 1,2,3 to 72nd St. 

 

Jan. 28, Mon. 8pm.  Mannes Trio Concert.  One of American’s oldest chamber music ensembles in residence at the Mannes College of Music, 150 West 85th St. between Columbus and Amsterdam Ave.  1st- come 1st- served seating.  1 train to 86th St. and Broadway or C to 86th and Central Park West. 

 

Updates and Announcements—School Bulletin Boards and Website  Do you know that you can get free flu shots and other vaccinations through the NYC Department of Health?  Do you know that you can join a very inexpensive gym at NYC Department of Parks Recreation Centers?  Do you know about the free concerts at NYC’s world famous music schools?  Do you know that many NYC museums have free or pay what you wish admissions at certain times.  Check out the bulletin boards in the Student Room or Founder’s Room (Room 13) for updates, announcements and other useful information.  Find back issues of the Student Club Newsletters with lots of other information about NYC’s neighborhoods and things to do at www.sai.2000.org.