Eastern State Penitentiary hosts MLK weekend readings
Please note: This article is published as an archive copy from Philadelphia City Paper. My City Paper is not affiliated with Philadelphia City Paper. Philadelphia City Paper was an alternative weekly newspaper in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The last edition was published on October 8, 2015.
"You can really feel the effects of his confinement..."
The audience from within ESP, where readers presented portions of King's letter.
Courtesy Eastern State Penitentiary
Courtesy Eastern State Penitentiary
“Cold. Isolated. Lonely. Imposing.” These words slipped eloquently from the lips of Temple University doctoral student Sam Davis on Sun., Jan. 18 at the Eastern State Penitentiary, the historical site that hosted a series of readings during Martin Luther King Day weekend. Davis provided historical context in between actor Dax Richardson’s readings of excerpts of King’s 1963 Letter From Birmingham Jail. Davis’ four opening words described the environment in which King wrote his famous letter of dissent.
The stonewalled corridors of the penitentiary set the mood as visitors listened to the reading of King’s letter, which was written in response to an op-ed piece by local clergy members, who were calling King an agitator during the civil rights movement.
Davis went on to say that King’s voice in his letter is very different from his uplifting and hopeful, “I Have A Dream” speech.
“You can really feel the effects of his confinement and isolation in King’s choice of words. He was alone, with nothing but a metal bed frame and four walls — where the only thing he could do was sit, think and write,” said Davis.
Davis would pose questions to the audience, making it more a dialogue than a presentation, while Richardson articulately read portions of King’s letter. With his pencil-thin moustache, Richardson not only sounded like King, but bore a striking resemblance to the revered theologian.
King’s letter also speaks of police brutality during the civil rights movement, and connects reactions to recent events in Ferguson, Mo. and throughout the nation to the tensions that King fought tirelessly against.
The readings allowed participants to get a different perspective about the figurehead of the civil rights movement during MLK weekend, especially because of its location in Philadelphia’s historic Eastern State Penitentiary.
The readings happened three times a day, were free to the public and continued through today.
Davis left the participants with one last question to think about before leaving. “Has anything truly changed in race relations today?”
