ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, January 10, 1997 TAG: 9701100010
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
COLUMN: Out & About
SOURCE: DONNA ALVIS-BANKS
"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."
- Martin Luther King Jr.
The Baptist minister wrote those words in a Birmingham jail after he was arrested for leading a march there protesting racial discrimination.
That was in 1963.
In 1964, Martin Luther King Jr. was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to lead black Americans to racial equality through nonviolent means.
The sit-ins, the marches, the massive demonstrations spearheaded by King were largely responsible for making our nation aware of the need for justice on the homefront. Congress enacted the Civil Rights Act in 1964 and the Voting Rights Act in 1965.
Ironically, King was a victim of the violence he despised.
He was shot and killed in Memphis on April 4, 1968, by James Earl Ray.
Had he lived, King would celebrate his 68th birthday Wednesday. At the time of his death, he was only 39.
Students at Virginia Tech and Radford University - most weren't even born when the Rev. King lived - will celebrate the Baptist minister's birthday with remembrances of his dream.
At Tech, the celebration starts at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday in Squires Student Center's Haymarket Theatre. The evening includes a special interpretation of King's famous "I Have a Dream" speech by the Ujima dance company.
Four of the university's student leaders - Jaret Riddick, Alma Cardenas, Matthew Powell and Tekisha Everette - will speak about King's influence in their lives. In addition, the Enlightened Gospel Choir of Virginia Tech will perform spiritual music.
Following the program, everyone's invited to a reception at the Black Cultural Center in room 126. Admission is free.
Wednesday's observance at Radford University includes a talk by the Rev. C. Coles Casey, minister at the First Baptist Church on West Street in Radford. It starts at 6 p.m. in Heth Ballroom. Music will be provided by the Radford University Gospel Choir.
After the program, everyone is invited to join in a candlelight walk. The Black Student Affairs Council will place luminaries around campus for this march honoring King.
The celebration ends with a reception in Heth Student Center. It, too, is a free event.
THE HEELS ARE ALIVE! Yes, the heel-kickin' fun is at New River Community College in Dublin on Saturday. The monthly jamboree put on by the college's Fiddle, Banjo and Dance Club features live music by the Rock Mountain Ramblers and Mitchell Van Dyke & Still Driving.
Doors at Edwards Hall open at 5 p.m. and the bands start playing at 7. You can join in the jammin' or listen to recorded music while you're waiting.
As always, cash prizes will go to winners of the dance contest. You get in free but you may leave donations at the door to help pay traveling expenses for the bands.
MORE LIVE HEELS: The monthly square dance sponsored by the Blacksburg Old-Time Music and Dance Group is Saturday, too. It runs from 8 to 11 p.m. at Gilbert Linkous Elementary School in Blacksburg.
Beth Molaro of Zenith, W.Va., will call the do-si-dos. Fiddler Brian Grim and the Konnarock Critters will be picking out the tunes.
You don't need a lot of experience (or even a partner!) to join in the sashaying. And even if you don't feel like dancing, you're welcome to come listen to the old-time string music.
Admission to the dance is $5. Dancers are asked to wear shoes that won't mar the tile floor.
THREE'S A CROWD (PLEASER): Allison Raines Meincke, Mary Alice Bragg and Don Eagle will team up for a program of classical music Sunday at 5 p.m. in Blacksburg's St. Mary's Catholic Church. The community concert is a welcome home for Meincke, a 1995 graduate of Blacksburg High School who's studying at Elon College, N.C.
Meincke, a soprano, has sung with the Brevard Opera Workshop at North Carolina's Brevard College and is a frequent soloist at churches in Virginia and North Carolina. She's the daughter of Dr. and Mrs. David Meincke.
Mary Alice Bragg is a North Carolina native with degrees from Meredith College and UNC-Greensboro. Her specialties are organ performance and church music and she has appeared in concert with the Burlington Boys' Choir for President and Nancy Reagan at the White House.
Trumpeter Ron Eagle (also a North Carolinian) plays with the North Carolina Symphony, the St. Stephen's Chamber Orchestra and the Crown Brass Quintet at UNC-Chapel Hill.
Sunday's concert is open to all. Donations will be accepted after the performance.
WORDS THAT RHYME WITH STITCH: That's how Clarity James might describe the characters she has played in her distinguished career in opera.
Now on the music faculty at Radford University, James is teaching after years of performing with such biggies as the New York City Opera, Chicago Lyric and Vienna Staatsoper.
James is a mezzo-soprano, a singer with a voice somewhere in compass between a soprano and contralto. In opera, the mezzo-sopranos often play the most colorful characters.
You'll have the opportunity to hear James in a live performance Monday at 8 p.m. in Radford's Preston Auditorium. She will present a recital of contemporary and standard songs and (of course!) some of her favorite operatic excerpts.
Pianist Caryl Conger will accompany James. Al Wojtera, marimba, and Elizabeth Crone, flute, will join in, too.
Admission is $3 for adults, $1 for children and free for Radford University students and staff.
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