Alicia Garza Added as Keynote Speaker for 2021 Brooklyn Tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Brooklyn Academy of Music today announced Alicia Garza, author of The Purpose of Power, principal at Black Futures Lab, and co-founder of the Black Lives Matter Global Network, will provide the keynote address for the digital adaptation of its 35th Annual Brooklyn Tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The free virtual event will stream on BAM.org, Monday, January 18, 2021, at 11am.

Garza is the Oakland-based organizer, writer, public speaker, and freedom dreamer who started a movement that changed how the world thinks about race. One of the pioneers behind the phrase #BlackLivesMatter, Garza co-founded the Black Lives Matter Global Network in 2013 and remains a seminal leader in the effort to organize for racial justice. In her new book, The Purpose of Power: How We Come Together When We Fall Apart, Garza shares her thoughts on politics, and lessons from her life working as a community organizer. Garza believes that Black communities deserve what all communities deserve-to be powerful in every aspect of their lives.

In addition to Garza, the event will feature performances by PJ Morton, Tarriona "Tank" Ball, Sing Harlem!, Timothy DuWhite, Ashley August, and more. The annual celebration brings together artists, activists, civic leaders, and the public for a communal commemoration and reflection on the life and legacy of Dr. King.

The 35th Annual Brooklyn Tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. streams on BAM.org, Monday, January 18, 2021, at 11am. Following the stream, the event will be available on BAM's YouTube and Vimeo through February 28, 2021. For the first time since its inception, New York City's largest public tribute to Dr. King will be pre-recorded to air locally on BRIC TV-the Emmy Award-winning cable TV and digital network. Visit BAM.org for more information.