19/01/2026
At the historic Great Hall of Cooper Union, where the NAACP was born, and Lincoln and Obama spoke, David Deblinger and Daniel Carlton created a magnificent and moving tribute.
A tribute in words, music, and dance to the March on Washington. To the ongoing fight for equality and social justice.
The evening ended with the audience on its feet, cheering as Peter Yarrow. Who organized the music for the historic 1963 March and sang from the Lincoln Memorial as part of Peter, Paul and Mary. He led everyone in a rousing rendition of “If I Had a Hammer.”
The next day Peter wrote:
“Making this kind of an effort is the lifeblood of all of our attempts to dig ourselves out of the very depressing and worrisome hole that we are in now.
I firmly believe that what you are doing is precisely what will help us to bring our strength, our determination, and our souls together.
We cannot fight hatred with returned animosity and anger; we can only bring light and love that can push away the darkness and illuminate the goodness in all of us. That is the work of the arts and that is what you are doing, so, hooray! kudos! wonderful!”
As Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. stated, “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”
The Village Festival will not be silent. Not in the face of injustice. Not ever.
https://thevillagesun.com/great-hall-event-rekindles-spirit-of-63-march-on-washington
