Kanav Gupta

Kev Choice sings one of his original pieces, accompanied by Harker orchestra and jazz band. The night began with Choice’s performances and ended with a talk by Dr. Walter Greason.

Composer Kev Choice led Harker’s instrumental groups and historian Walter Greason delivered a keynote address at the Martin Luther King Jr. Evening Celebration on Jan. 23rd in the Patil Theater. 

Kev Choice, an Oakland-based pianist, composer, producer, and emcee, joined the Orchestra and Jazz Band to perform two of his original works. He performed one piece as the featured pianist and another as a hip-hop vocalist, with both works accompanied by the full Harker ensemble.

Dr. Greason, a history professor at Macalester College and scholar of hip-hop, civil rights and Afrofuturism, opened his address by connecting the work of Dr. King to the Minnesota communities’ support against the recent killing of Renee Good in Minneapolis. He lauded Dr. King for always looking to help others even when his life was in danger. 

“The night before he was shot, Dr. King said, ‘I’ve been to the promised land, I’ve seen it, I may not get there with you,’” Dr. Greason said. “There is a level of prophecy and determination to stand up after already facing multiple attempts on your life, and to say, ‘I will still walk this path, no matter what happens.’ How many of us can have that moment where we see our death and say, ‘I’m not changing anything?’ He stood for the higher principle.” 

Dr. Greason also reflected on the 1950 sit-in at the segregated Mary’s Cafe, one of the first known times Dr. King used nonviolent tactics to show civil disobedience. He used the story to remind attendees to stand up and fight when they’re unsatisfied with the status quo. 

“Go the extra mile — this is what Dr. King did at Mary’s Cafe,” Dr. Greason said. “He not only went there, but he said, ‘I’m coming back again.’ His success in doing that built the movement that led to the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act. It made it possible for all of us to be here in this room tonight, and it’s not a crime. Go over the extra mile for yourself, for each other, for everyone you can.” 

Harker parent and attendee Mandy Dhillon appreciated the night’s theme of past and present connecting, and she commended Dr. Greason’s talk for its relevance to current events.  

“I was blown away by the connection of hip-hop to classical music,” Dhillon said. “The other part that was very powerful and inspiring was Dr. Greason connecting what’s happening in Minnesota to the work of Dr. King. It made me reflect on my daily actions and think about how I am impacting my community, including at work as well as our local neighborhood.” 

After Dr. Greason’s speech, both he and Choice answered questions from the audience, discussing their own life stories in more depth. Attendee and eighth grader at Challenger School Kaleb Wubet valued hearing about Dr. Greason’s own resilience after facing multiple attempts on his life when rallying for meaningful causes just like Dr. King.  

“It was very inspirational to hear them talk about their past struggles and how they dealt with those challenges,” Kaleb said. “For instance, when Dr. Greason told us about the attempts on his life, I thought it was amazing that he came back from that because that would be scary for a lot of people. But he persevered.” 

Participants in the Q&A ranged from Harker parents to students as young as nine. Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Patricia Lai Burrows appreciated that the event reached a diverse set of people. 

“Looking at the audience, what I loved was that there were people I hadn’t seen before, people beyond the Harker community,” Burrows said. “I saw people of all ages, I saw friends. It’s just an amazing opportunity for us to gather about something that’s really important — not just for the performers and the speakers, but also the synergy that we have together as participants as we engage in these conversations.”