stamps.
The glory, glory
oh, the over is true
Smashing all glory, glory, glory. Hallelujah.
His truth is marching on.
Thank you.
Let us march on, let us march on, till victory
is won.
We have come, oh we have come, o'er the way
that the tears have been watered.
Oh, we have come, treading our path through the
blood of the slaughtered.
Out of the gloomy past, till now we stand at
last, where the bright beam of our bright star
is cast.
God of our weary years, God of our silent tears,
Thou who has brought us thus far away.
Thou who has brought us into the light.
Keep us forever in the path we pray.
Lest our feet stray from the places of God
where we met Thee.
Lest our hearts drunk with the wine of the
world we forget Thee.
Shadowed beneath our head, may we forever stand
True to our God, true to our native land. Amen.
Again, I'd like to introduce the Deputy Mayor
Pro Tem Diane Ragsdale to make a presentation.
We have indeed been filled with the spirit,
have we not?
I would like for Mrs. Stewart and Mrs. Holliday
to come forward, Mrs. Stewart and Mrs. Jennifer Holliday.
It is with great pleasure on behalf of the
Mayor and other members of the City Council
that I present each of you with a token of appreciation.
Because you have come to assist us to
commemorate the birth of Dr. King, because your
presence is so unusual and atypical,
I would like to present to you a fine porcelain
piece of art wrapped in precious gold.
Hello, everybody.
I want to say that it's mighty, mighty good to
be here.
I was very glad to have been able to do this.
Last year I did participate in a lot of the
King holiday festivities, and we were going
over some for this year, and I only chose two.
I did one concert for the SCLC, and then I came
here for the JBA.
I'm very, very glad to have been here, and I
hope that you did enjoy yourself, because I did
come to sing and have a good time.
So Thank you , so much.
Thank you so much.
I'm so very proud to be a part of tonight's celebration.
I stole my way into being a part of the Civil
Rights Movement.
I had a chance to see Dr. King and hear him at
the church in Greenwood, Mississippi, in the Delta,
when Sidney Poitier and others came to help us
and teach the people and get the young people
to go around and encourage the older people to
register and vote.
And I was prohibited from going because my
mother was a school teacher, and they were
threatened that if they participated they would
be fired.
So I crawled out of the window at night and
attended the meetings.
And still crawling today to get here to say to
him, thank you, Dr. King. Thank you, America.
Thank you, Dallas. Thank you.
Now, of course, you recognize that this is a
birthday celebration, and a birthday
celebration would not be complete without the
bearing of the gifts, so just bear with us,
because that's what's going to happen.
The next is Alphonsus and Doris Johnson, who
will present gifts to Ms. Stewart and Ms. Holliday.
And that was on behalf of Al's florist, so you
know what to do.
The next thing is really an important event for
the Junior Black Academy of Arts and Letters,
and it's in the induction into the academy itself.
I'd like to read this particular proclamation.
And whereas Jennifer Holliday was encouraged to
audition for Broadway after appearing on a
televised benefit of Black Theater in Houston,
and whereas Jennifer Holliday starred in the
hit Broadway musical Dreamgirls, and whereas
Jennifer Holliday has garnered both a Grammy
and a Tony Award for her performance in
Dreamgirls, and whereas Jennifer Holliday, a
recording artist on Geffen label, has worked
with such artists as Earth, Wind, and Fire, and
Ashford and San Diego.
And whereas Jennifer Holliday was sought out by
Michael Jackson to record the song You're the
One on the Say You Love Me album, now therefore
be it resolved that the board of directors does
hereby induct Jennifer Holliday as a member of
the Junior Black Academy of Arts and Letters
with full rights and privileges on this day,
January 19, 1987.
Well, we're not finished.
You know, we rival with Houston, and so we have
to give her a little bit more of Dallas to take
home with it. We have a beautiful portrait done
by James Kemp of the skyline of Dallas for Miss Holliday.
I want to thank everybody again. Dallas is just
beautiful. Thank you so much.
We have a little tradition for a birthday
celebration that there's gifts for everybody.
And so that you've seen the stars and they've
received their gift.
We would like to call to the rostrum, Michael
Terrell, co-director, John Tatum, co-director,
and Pat Kazee, co-director,
and Jerry Mitchell, coordinator.
Now I know you enjoyed it, and these folks
didn't know this was going to take place.
Now I call the first three the brick and the
foundation of this particular event. And
Jerry's been with us for three years, so he's
the mortar. So the brick and mortar. This is
the foundation. Give him a hand, folks.
So we'd just like to recognize you with a
little gift from our hearts. Thank you.
Thank you very much.
We're getting near the end, folks. I say
there's gifts for everybody.
Now, of course, the gift for the choir is to
have sung with an internationally known singer,
and you can put that on your Vita from henceforth.
The gift to the Junior Black Academy of Arts
and Letters is to have the second largest crowd
that we've ever gathered for an event in a
sellout crowd.
We must have turned away about five or six
hundred people.
I do hope that our gift next year is that we
sell out Reunion Arena, but don't get me started.
And then the last gift, which is probably the
most important gift that we have, is a gift to
this community.
A person called on the telephone and was trying
to order tickets, and she said, I bet you those
tickets down on the front row cost $100.
And I said, lady, I bet you they didn't. Our
desire is to give a birthday gift to the community.
And therefore, the tickets up in the third row
with those folks with the bloody noses because
the altitude is so high cost the same as the
tickets right here.
And our ticket and pricing structure will
always remain that way because it's a gift to
the community.
So everyone's received their gift. Thank you.
Our program has come into an end, but we
couldn't close our program without
acknowledging those persons who made the
program what it is.
First of all, have you enjoyed it?
We'd like for the following persons and groups
to stand and take a bow because we want you to
know who they are.
And we want you to let to give them your praise
for the job that they did.
First of all, the mahogany dancers, could you
come out, please?
Next, we'd like for the guest musicians who are
in the choir to stand from the churches around
town, the guest musicians who are in the choir.
You can remain standing while the rest of the
choir stands up.
If you look in your program in the handout, you
can tell they came from practically every
church there is in Dallas.
But that makes up a choir. A choir is a large
group of people singing as one.
And that's what they've done today. Thank you
very much.
And you can't sing without music. We'd like for
the musicians right here to stand, please.
One all the way from Oklahoma City to join us today.
And the other musicians.
Thank you very much.
As far as acknowledgments, we also would like
to acknowledge the work of the Junior Black
Academy of Arts and Letters staff and the
volunteer army.
They say that Arnie has an army, but they
haven't seen the Junior Black Academy army go
into action.
They can do anything that there is to do.
We'd like to thank the churches for allowing
their choir members to participate.
We also would like to thank the sponsors.
Also, by way of announcements, the Concerned
Black Clergy and Laity of Dallas will have its
annual Martin Luther King celebration tomorrow,
7 p.m. at the Highland Hills United Methodist
Church across the street from Bishop College.
One last announcement. There will be a Meet the
Artists reception immediately following this program
at the Martin Luther King Center Recreation
Building on Pennsylvania Avenue and Oakland Avenue.
And you're all invited. And remember, keep the
dream alive.
Thank you very much. Drive safely.