Martin Luther King PERFORMANCE COMPETITION 2022
Translated by Luuk Speckens
On the 7th of December, the annual Martin Luther King Lecture takes place. The 2022 theme is Civil disobedience. An important part of this lecture is the Martin Luther King Performance Competition. Can you make as much of an impact with your speech as Martin Luther King did?
“There is a type of constructive non-violent tension that is necessary for growth” *
To make injustice, racism, and inequality more visible, Martin Luther King jr. stimulated acts of civil disobedience. These acts are remarkable actions or performances that create uneasy and tense situations, and thus stimulate and confront others. Peaceful and creative acts that try to navigate a confrontation to empathy and dialogue, and in the end, to positive change.
Walk in the footsteps of MLK and inspire others with your (disobedient) performance about how people can join you and join together to come into action, to make sure that no one will be discriminated against, whether that would be because of race, sexuality, or disability.
How to participate?
Write your performance inspired by the concept of ‘civil disobedience’ and make a video of your performance with your phone. Any type of performance is welcome, whether it be spoken word, a column, a monologue, a poem, or a song. The length of the video is 2-3 minutes at a maximum, and the written speech consists of 800-1000 words at most. Send your text and video before the 20th of November to MLK@justiceandpeace.nl.
The jury, with among others spoken-word artist Elten Kiene, will judge the application in terms of integration of the theme, connections with ideas and quotes from MLK, originality and presentation. The three winners will perform during the Martin Luther King Lecture 2022 on the 7th of December at the Haagse Hogeschool, and will receive a prize of €400. For more information, send an e-mail to Justice and Peace! info@justiceandpeace.nl.
*Quote from Martin Luther King jr. in ‘Letter from the Birmingham Jail’, 1963