MLK Day concert held annually at the Kennedy Center for 23 years is relocating

Elizabeth Blair, NPR

Let Freedom Ring, an annual concert in Washington, D.C., celebrating the life of Martin Luther King Jr., has been a signature event at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts for more than 20 years. Aretha Franklin, Gladys Knight and Chaka Khan have performed, backed by a choir made up of singers from D.C.-area churches and from Georgetown University, which produces the event.

But this year’s event, headlined by actor and rapper Common, will not be held at the Kennedy Center.

Georgetown University says it is moving Let Freedom Ring to D.C.’s historical Howard Theatre to save money.

For Marc Bamuthi Joseph, it wouldn’t make sense to hold it at the Kennedy Center this year.

Until March 2025, Bamuthi was the Kennedy Center’s artistic director for social impact, a division that created programs for underserved communities in the D.C. region. He regularly spoke at the Martin Luther King Jr. Day event. “I would much rather that we all be spared the hypocrisy of celebrating a man who not only fought for justice, but who articulated the case for equity maybe better than anyone in American history … when the official position of this administration is an anti-equity position,” he said.

President Trump has criticized past programming at the Kennedy Center as “woke” and issued executive orders calling for an end to diversity in cultural programming.

Learn how Trump took over the Kennedy Center and fired staff.

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