The Power of Art: Sioux City NAACP commemorates Coretta Scott King during Black History Month

The Sioux City NAACP will host a celebration of Coretta Scott King’s life as a concert singer and as Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King’s partner in the Civil Rights Movement at 7 p.m. Feb. 17, at Morningside University’s Eppley Auditorium (3625 Garreston Ave. in Sioux City).

The event will be a commemorative concert, free to the public, that includes a discussion afterward. The Downtown Sioux City Public Library will provide books detailing the lives of Coretta Scott King, Marian Anderson and Frances Ellen Watkins Harper. Marty Knepper, Ph.D., a humanities scholar and the project’s director, says that her story is important for women, showing that they are more than what people expect of them. “Sometimes people just see her as a wife and mother. Certainly, in the 50s, that was quite the stereotype. But you know, she was so much more. She was a concert singer, and I didn’t know that until I started this project.”

Sioux City NAACP President Monique Scarlett will read the narration of Scott King’s life, starting from her upbringing in segregated rural Alabama to her career as a concert singer and marriage to Luther King. Much of the narrative delves into the public and private words of Coretta and Martin. Scarlett says Scott King’s legacy brings awareness to culture, the arts and resilience which has inspired her.

“As the president of the NAACP in Sioux City, her example gives me hope and power,” Scarlett says. “It reminds me that even in the darkest of times, the sun will shine if we remain consistent in our commitment to civil rights.”

Because of her musical background, the Coretta Scott King Project will be surrounded by culture and the arts. Freedom songs, spirituals and art songs will be key storytelling elements for the event. The Morningside University Choir, directed by Ryan Person, and the Gospel Community Choir, directed by Sandra Pearson, will perform at the concert. Joining them will be three distinguished opera singers: Neil Nelson, who graduated from New England Conservatory and was recently featured in performances in Florida and Russia; Shannon Salyards Burton, who trained at Boston University and serves on the Morningside vocal music faculty; and Sioux City native Clark Sturdevant, who trained at Washington University in St. Louis and has sung throughout the Upper Midwest. Timothy Steele, the concert’s narrative author and musical director, serves on the faculty of the New England Conservatory of Music.

Coretta was trained as a concert soprano. Steele said that Coretta’s mid-1960s Freedom Concerts, held to raise money for the Civil Rights Movement, inspired him to tell her story through narrative and song. Scarlett said the concert is not only a reflection on history, but also a reminder of the work that continues today.

The Sioux City NAACP. Photo from left: Glenn Moore, membership chair, Sandra Pearson, MLK chair & community gospel director, Monique Scarlett president, Angel Wallace, secretary, Ike Rayford, treasurer, Terry Schrank, economic chair, Linda Santi, vice president/voting rights & political chair, Marty Knepper, education chair, Celeste Sudduth-Triplett, youth council advisor, Pastor James Mosley, faith chair (not shown). Photo courtesy of Scarlett.

“Civil rights history has a direct correlation to today’s circumstances as we continue the fight for equality and justice for all,” Scarlett says. “While previous generations marched and advocated for fair treatment, today we must stand tall and demand it. We cannot afford to relive the nightmare of oppression. We deserve better, and as a nation, we must hold ourselves to a higher standard.”

There will be a post-concert conversation, which will last about 30 minutes, where audience members can ask questions of two Coretta Scott King scholars and two performers in the concert: Timothy Steele, Marty Knepper, Neil Nelson and Monique Scarlett.

This concert is free to the public, through the local NAACP Sioux City Branch; Humanities Iowa; the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Federation of the State Humanities Councils. In addition to the concert, the Humanities Iowa grant also sponsored the Downtown Sioux City Public Library’s special circulating library exhibit.