Obama celebrates MLK Day with GU

Kara Brandeisky

President Barack Obama commemorated the first Martin Luther King Day of his term by appearing as a surprise guest at Georgetown’s annual “Let Freedom Ring!” concert at the Kennedy Center this past Monday evening.  The concert featured music by Georgetown’s “Let Freedom Ring!” gospel choir and Grammy-award winning artist India.Arie.

At the event, University President John DeGioia presented the John Thompson Sr. Legacy of a Dream Award to former NBA star Dikembe Mutombo (COL ’91).

Obama praised Mutombo’s charitable efforts, saying that he is attacking poverty in Africa “with the same ferocity that he used to block shots in the NBA.”

The president also displayed his own version of Mutombo’s famed finger-wag, the former Georgetown center’s signature celebration gesture.

In Obama’s brief speech, he stressed the importance of remembering King’s perseverance, especially as the nation struggles through tough times. He said a concert was a particularly fitting way of celebrating the occasion.

“Songs played … an important part in the civil rights movement,” Obama said. “Dr. King and his associates would go around to different communities … They’d know which were serious about the boycott, which had the discipline to pull it off, when folks in those communities were singing freedom songs. When he saw young people singing in the face of hostility, he said that’s when he first saw the face of the movement. He said it was about the faith in the future. He said it was based on hope.”

The event, featured the “Let Freedom Ring!” choir, composed of members from the D.C. community, Georgetown students, faculty, and staff. Reverend Nolan Williams Jr. of Metropolitan Baptist Church, who penned two original songs for the occasion, led the choir. Williams’ first song, “I’m Gonna Do All I Can” is a tribute to Mutombo’s mission of alleviating poverty in Africa. The second, “I Am The Dream,” is a tribute to the message of Dr. King.

“The second piece was a challenge to make the MLK birthday more than just an event, but actually to embrace the principles of his dream and life work, and bring our society closer to becoming the beloved community he envisioned,” Williams said.

As the “Let Freedom Ring!” choir finished their set and waited for Arie to take the stage, Williams went off script to introduce the five Georgetown students who soloed during the performance and express his own opinions on the significance of Martin Luther King Day.

“It requires us to do more than just to take a day off and attend a program,” Williams later said. “It requires us to buy in to principles that inform how we treat other people and handle people whose values are different than ours.”

Although the president was on hand, Arie’s performance did not shy away from her usual political commentary. In her song “Ghetto,” she sang “to be hungry in L.A. is just like starving in Bombay/ homeless in Morocco is a shelter in Chicago,” culminating in the refrain, “America is a ghetto.”

India.Arie captivated the audience with her songs and ambitious clothing selection, sporting a bright orange shawl before appearing for the encore with a set of butterfly wings. When she launched into “There’s Hope”—an Obama campaign fixture—the 2,400 on hand burst into a frenzy, dancing and clapping along in unison. But it was Ryan Wilson (COL ’12) who was faced with the daunting task of following President Obama’s speech with his own remarks.

“[President Obama] was extremely, extremely nice—the entire family was,” Wilson said. “I think meeting him is actually what calmed me down before we eventually went out on stage. He was so nice and really expressed his belief that it was a great event and that there was nothing to worry about.”

Wilson’s speech, witnessed by many of his friends and family from his hometown of Atlanta, GA., touched on the common theme of maintaining King’s dream and progressing towards the type of society he envisioned.

“His legacy is something that I think we’re still trying to really understand,” Wilson said. “People often speak of the dream and I don’t think that we’re there yet—so until we get to that place, I think it’s important to continue to honor his legacy in hopes that every time we do so, we get closer to accomplishing his dream.”