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Media Contact: Tameka Kenan-Norman FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Chief Communications & Marketing Officer Feb. 14, 2018 (252) 972-1333 King’s First Dream event to highlight MLK’s 1962 visit to Rocky Mount Rocky Mount, N.C.-The city of Rocky Mount and Dr. Jason Miller, professor at NC State University, will present King’s First Dream during Black History Month. This re- staging event, scheduled for Friday, Feb. 23 at 6 p.m., will highlight Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s visit to the Booker T. Washington (BTW) gymnasium in 1962 when he delivered the precursor to his iconic “I Have a Dream” speech. King’s First Dream will take place at the BTW gym, located at 727 Pennsylvania Ave. in Rocky Mount. Speeches will be delivered by select community members who have participated in previous King events and who were present when King’s speech was delivered in Rocky Mount. Dr. William Barber, former president of the NAACP, will provide comments via video. The event will feature an extensive selection of recently restored audio from King’s speech set to video. There will also be a choral performance. Any individual interested in being a part of the choir should attend rehearsal on Thursday, Feb. 22, 2018 at 6 p.m. in the Imperial Centre for the Arts and Sciences. Those who bring their own choir robe and participate in the choir will be given priority seating and will likely be featured in the documentary. “We are ecstatic to partner with Dr. Jason Miller in delivering an event reminiscent of King’s historical visit to Rocky Mount,” says Sheila Long, recreation services supervisor at the Imperial Centre for the Arts and Sciences and coordinator for the King’s First Dream event. “Continuing to celebrate and educate our community about the significance of Dr. King’s visit to Rocky Mount is imperative.” Admission to the event will be free; however, a ticket is required for attendance and are available on the Imperial Centre website at www.imperialcentre.org. Just select events. Advanced tickets are also available at the Imperial Centre box office, located at 270 Gay St. in Rocky Mount. There is no guarantee that tickets will be available the night of the event. King’s First Dream will kick off a weekend of activities to support Miller’s “Origins of the Dream-Hughes’s Poetry and King’s Rhetoric” documentary. Miller, who is also known for restoring the audio presented by King at the BTW gym in 1962, says the upcoming film “will mix the traditional historical elements of archival footage, photographs and primary source documents with dramatic interpretations of works by Hughes and King.” On Saturday, Feb. 24, 2018, Rocky Mount Mills will sponsor activities to be used as a fundraiser for Miller’s documentary. Rocky Mount Mills is inviting the public for an evening of music, food and fun. A variety of live music will take place from 4 to 9 p.m. featuring Pat “Mother Blues” Cohen at 8 p.m. For more information on events coordinated by Rocky Mount Mills, visit www.rockymountmills.com. For more information on King’s First Dream, visit www.imperialcentre.org, or call 252-972-1266. Visit www.kingsfirstdream.com to learn more about the documentary. Admission to King’s First Dream is free, and the event will be recorded for use in the documentary film. There will be a nominal fee for activities at Rocky Mount Mills.
Media Contact: Tameka Kenan-Norman FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Chief Communications & Marketing Officer Feb. 14, 2018 (252) 972-1333
King’s First Dream event to highlight MLK’s 1962 visit to Rocky Mount
Rocky Mount, N.C.-The city of Rocky Mount and Dr. Jason Miller, professor at NC State University, will present King’s First Dream during Black History Month. This re- staging event, scheduled for Friday, Feb. 23 at 6 p.m., will highlight Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s visit to the Booker T. Washington (BTW) gymnasium in 1962 when he delivered the precursor to his iconic “I Have a Dream” speech.
King’s First Dream will take place at the BTW gym, located at 727 Pennsylvania Ave. in Rocky Mount. Speeches will be delivered by select community members who have participated in previous King events and who were present when King’s speech was delivered in Rocky Mount. Dr. William Barber, former president of the NAACP, will provide comments via video.
The event will feature an extensive selection of recently restored audio from King’s speech set to video. There will also be a choral performance. Any individual interested in being a part of the choir should attend rehearsal on Thursday, Feb. 22, 2018 at 6 p.m. in the Imperial Centre for the Arts and Sciences. Those who bring their own choir robe and participate in the choir will be given priority seating and will likely be featured in the documentary.
“We are ecstatic to partner with Dr. Jason Miller in delivering an event reminiscent of King’s historical visit to Rocky Mount,” says Sheila Long, recreation services supervisor at the Imperial Centre for the Arts and Sciences and coordinator for the King’s First Dream event. “Continuing to celebrate and educate our community about the significance of Dr. King’s visit to Rocky Mount is imperative.”
Admission to the event will be free; however, a ticket is required for attendance and are available on the Imperial Centre website at www.imperialcentre.org. Just select events. Advanced tickets are also available at the Imperial Centre box office, located at 270 Gay St. in Rocky Mount. There is no guarantee that tickets will be available the night of the event.
King’s First Dream will kick off a weekend of activities to support Miller’s “Origins of the Dream-Hughes’s Poetry and King’s Rhetoric” documentary. Miller, who is also known for restoring the audio presented by King at the BTW gym in 1962, says the
upcoming film “will mix the traditional historical elements of archival footage, photographs and primary source documents with dramatic interpretations of works by Hughes and King.”
On Saturday, Feb. 24, 2018, Rocky Mount Mills will sponsor activities to be used as a fundraiser for Miller’s documentary. Rocky Mount Mills is inviting the public for an evening of music, food and fun. A variety of live music will take place from 4 to 9 p.m. featuring Pat “Mother Blues” Cohen at 8 p.m.
For more information on events coordinated by Rocky Mount Mills, visit www.rockymountmills.com. For more information on King’s First Dream, visit www.imperialcentre.org, or call 252-972-1266. Visit www.kingsfirstdream.com to learn more about the documentary.
Admission to King’s First Dream is free, and the event will be recorded for use in the documentary film. There will be a nominal fee for activities at Rocky Mount Mills.