The School community remembered the late Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., yesterday, January 21, with a special assembly in the School Auditorium, presented by students representing Cultural Awareness at Portsmouth (C.A.A.P.).
The assembly opened with the song, "Lift Every Voice and Sing," regarded as the Black National Anthem, beautifully sung by Jaimie Crawl '08 and Liz Dennis '08 in honor of the Nobel Peace Prize winner and slain U.S. civil rights leader. It was followed by a series of moving recitations by students who read excerpts from King's famed "Letter from a Birmingham Jail," a manifesto of the Negro movement that reflected Dr. King's determined, yet nonviolent, efforts to bring about equality for all races.
In addition to the excerpts from King's Birmingham letter, students also recited two poems, "The Negro Speaks of Rivers," by famed African-American writer and poet Langston Hughes, recited by Horace Allen '08, and "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings," by great contemporary literary voice Maya Angelou, recited by Naseemah Mohamed '08.
Following the student recitations, a videotape was shown featuring King's "I've Been to the Mountain Top" speech, given the day before he was assassinated in Memphis, TN, on April 4, 1968.
The special assembly was co-written and co-directed by Jaimie Crawl and Steph Perez '08. Students participating in the readings, in addition to Allen, Mohamed, Dennis and Crawl, were Liz Childs '08, Marisa Edmonds '08, Chido Oniyuke '10, Ana Maria Lopez '10, Brittany Hunt '08, Marco DiMattino '08, Brianne Rok '08, Sarah Taddei '09, Kat Sullivan '09, Caroline Mason '08, and Beneva Davies '09. Helping behind the scenes were Jaleesa Freeman '08, Nyasia Porter '10, Donovan Reyes '11 and Steph Perez.
View photos from Monday's Martin Luther King, Jr., Assembly.
