The Fierce Urgency of Now: MLK Tribute Concert
Asylum Hill Congregational Church
Hartford
Jan. 22, 2026
“We are now faced with the fact, my friends, that tomorrow is today. We are confronted with the fierce urgency of now. In this unfolding conundrum of life and history, there is such a thing as being too late.”
Symphonie Privett of Fox 61 News read Dr. Martin Luther King’s words during a brief pause of the wonderful music being performed as part of a concert to celebrate Dr. King’s birthday. “The fierce urgency of now” is perhaps one of Dr. King’s most famous phrases, but I found myself hooked by his declaration that we do not have all the time we think we do. The violence, injustice and hatred that we hope will hold off for one more day, when it will become someone else’s problem, is here today. It will just be harder to ignore tomorrow.
Fifty-eight years after Dr. King was assassinated, the record of what America has achieved since is decidedly mixed. The country elected the first African American president, Barack Obama, in 2008. The song “Audacity of Hope” was written by Ozie Cargile, inspired by Obama’s victory in the 2007 Iowa caucuses. I went to see then-candidate Obama speak when he came to Hartford, and I was caught up in the electric atmosphere of being a part of history.
Now I look back on Obama much less favorably. The final nail in the coffin for me was when President Obama helped break the burgeoning NBA strike that was a response to the shootings of Black men by the police. Lest we forget, Dr. King was in Memphis the day he died supporting a sanitation worker’s strike.
Still, nothing helps to flush conflicted political feelings out of the head like a good show. One might not think of a symphony performance being characterized by strong showmanship. But I and the rest of the audience were pleasantly surprised when violinist Curtis Stewart began playing from the far side of the church in a stirring solo performance that kicked off Samuel Coleridge-Taylor’s “Deep River.” He danced down the aisle as he played, inviting the audience to sing along with him. When he reached the podium where conductor Wayne J. du Maine stood, the rest of the symphony joined in for a fun, lively performance that brought the audience to its feet.
Celebrating Dr. King, who was an ordained minister and used the power of the African American church to rally support for civil rights, wouldn’t be complete without a gospel choir. The Metropolitan AME Zion Church of Hartford Choir joined the concert about halfway through, performing Richard Smallwood’s “Total Praise”. Gospel has always been one of my favorite genres of music, and hearing the choir sing with the full backing of a symphony orchestra elevated the performance. All gospel concerts should have an orchestra on standby from now on.
It was an emotionally complicated evening, because the music was phenomenal, but the message behind the music seems to have gone unfulfilled. Minister Jordan Parker read a passage from Dr. King’s famous “I Have a Dream” speech:
“When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the ‘unalienable Rights’ of ‘Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.’ It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note, insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked ‘insufficient funds.’”
As ICE agents flood the streets of American cities, targeting people of color, murdering citizens in the street; as the violent militarism Dr. King warned about strikes at places around the world from Venezuela to Greenland; and as Americans chose this reality freely in the last election, it certainly seems like we’re coming up a day late and a dollar short on the principles Dr. King gave his life for.
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