RBR celebrates Black History Month

Red Bank Regional will be celebrating Black History Month in a combination of music and prose. RBR Choral Majors will perform an 18 minute choral medley tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King entitled, “His Light Still Shines.” The piece was composed and arranged by famed African American choral music composer Moses Hogan for the Choral Arts Society of Washington.

RBR Choral teacher Kris Zook states, “The piece is probably the most prolific arrangement of the African Spiritual in the 20th century. It also contains some narration which will be read by our creative writing students.”

Mr. Zook adds, “It is a very powerful cantata; at its crux, it encourages us to think of Dr. Martin Luther King, not just as a hero of African Americans, but as a voice of change for all people.”

Community Advocate Gilda Rogers returns to RBR as the keynote speaker of the event. Ms. Rogers, was the Director of the SOURCE at RBR for several years then left to produce and host the Brookdale weekly television community news program “Frank Talk.” She borrows her speech topic from a poem she wrote entitled, “Born Black in America.”

Ms. Rogers states, “In addressing the RBR students, I hope to fuse past and present on what is going on today in the black community and how it is relative to history. For example we see the plight of African Americans in urban communities, and even here in Red Bank and ask, ‘where does that come from?’”

Ms. Rogers is also the author of a book, “Arrested Development: The State of Black Achievement and Education in Hip-Hop America. She is the owner of Frank Talk Art Bistro and Books in Red Bank, a unique café lounge and book store which features a diverse selection of books, art, as well as frequent lectures, community discussions and jazz music.