Sponsored by the Lexington Lyceum Advocates, the Association of Black Citizens of Lexington (ABCL), and the Lexington Historical Society
Pulitzer Prize-winning historian David Blight will explore Frederick Douglass’s role as a prose poet of democracy, from his transformation as an advocate of the proslavery Constitution to the antislavery Constitution in the 1850s and how he interpreted the revolutionary transformations of emancipation and Reconstruction.
David Blight is Sterling Professor of History and Director of the Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance, and Abolition at Yale University. He is the author of several highly acclaimed books, including Race and Reunion: The Civil War in American Memory and Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom, which won the Pulitzer Prize for history.
Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom will be available for sale and signing at the event.
Please click here to purchase your tickets to ABCL’s 2024 MLK Day Concert on Sunday, January 14, 2024 at 2 pm at Follen Community Church. You’ll be inspired to build a better tomorrow by the songs that inspired the Civil Rights Movement and the stories of Dr. King’s membership in Alpha Phi Alpha, a Black Greek-letter fraternity.
The tribute to Dr. King and the civil rights movement will feature spirituals and freedom songs performed by a choir led by Dennis L. Slaughter, EdM, DLP. Borther Dennis is founding director of the Boston Community Choir and artistic director of the Boston Pops Orchestra Gospel Choir.
Your guides through the Legacy of Pledging Alpha Phi Alpha include Michelle Ridgley, Lexington native who’s uncle was a linemate of Dr. King, and James Hoyte, Lexington resident and fellow Alpha who also pledged Sigma Chapter.
Tickets – $25 general admission
Proceeds support the ABCL Scholarship Fund.
This concert is ABCL’s 2024 Black History Portrait Banners Concert.
Invite your neighbors and friends to buy their tickets now to this celebration of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on Sunday, January 14, 2024 at 2pm at Follen Community Church.
ABCL’s Black History Portrait Banners honor trailblazers who have contributed to Lexington and American history and culture over the last four centuries.
This year’s banner honorees are two former Lexington residents
Kate Barbadoes – Perseverance in the 18th Century: baptized with her husband in Lexington in 1754, their three children were baptized in Lexington in 1755 and 1756, widowed in 1757 when her husband Quawk died. Come hear more about her story and the ripple effect that she had on the Revolutionary War and abolition movement. .
John Henry Brown – Reestablishing Black Residency in the 19th Century: enslaved in Maryland, self-emancipated in 1862, Civil War veteran, resident of Lexington from 1860s to 1920. Come here more about his story and how he became a pillar of the community with a pension.
Doors open at 6:30 for socializing with appetizers and drinks
There will also be an opportunity to take pictures with the portrait banners after the program.
Join Boston Public Quartet & Lexington High School Chamber Orchestra for an uplifting classical afternoon celebrating pioneering composer, pianist & teacher Florence B. Price. Buy your tickets now!
Join ABCL’s celebration of the 240th anniversary of the Supreme Judicial Court decision that ended slavery in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in 1783.
Hear the story of Quock Walker’s life and judicial victories. This event will run from 8:00 AM – 10:00 AM.
11:00 AM to 2:00 PM – 3rd Annual Quock Walker Day Community Celebration
Join ABCL’s celebration of the 240th anniversary of the Supreme Judicial Court decision that ended slavery in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in 1783. Learn about the lives of Lexingtonians who were enslaved and emancipated. Hear how Quock Walker’s fortitude and judicial victories inspired his relatives to fight for equal rights in Massachusetts and for the abolition of slavery across the United States of America.
Highlights include colonial children’s games: hoop play, game of graces, and quoits, West African food and dance, colonial arts and crafts, colonial and military reenactors, and more.
This event is open to all and will run from 11:00 AM – 2:00 PM.
Join us at this virtual event co-sponsored with Cary Library. Registration is required. We’ll talk about the history of Juneteenth and the ways in which the holiday has evolved. Nicole will share some of her favorite recipes to honor the Juneteenth holiday and Black celebrations year-round. Download the flyer here.
June 8, 2023 at 7:00 PM – ABCL Second Thursday Social at Burtons
43 Middlesex Turnpike Unit 10B, Burlington, MA 01803. Join us on the second Thursday of each month
June 15, 2023 at 7:00 PM – June business meeting
Our guests will be Dr. Julie Hackett – Superintendent of Lexington Public Schools, Barbara Hamilton – METCO Coordinator, and Johnye Cole – Lexington Public Schools Director of Equity and Student Support
July 8, 2023 at 8:00 AM to 10:00 AM – 3rd Annual Quock Walker Day Hike for Freedom
A Family Friendly Trail walk of 3.3 miles
July 8, 2023 at 11:00 AM to 3:00 PM – 3rd Annual Quock Walker Day Community Celebration
This event is open to all and will run from 11:00 AM to 3:00 PM
April 22, 2023 at 8:00 PM Cary Lecture Series event at Cary Memorial Hall 1605 Mass Ave in Lexington- Safeguarding the Mental and Behavioral Health of a City – Dr. Kevin Simon
The final event in the 2022-2023 Cary Lecture Series. A compelling topic and best of all it’s free!
May 5, 2023 at 12:30 PM – ABCL First Friday Lunch at Via Lago
1845 Massachusetts Ave, Lexington, MA 02420. Join us for lunch on the first Friday of each month
May 11, 2023 at 7:00 PM – ABCL Second Thursday Social at BurtonsGrill
43 Middlesex Turnpike Unit 10B, Burlington, MA 01803. Join us on the second Thursday of each month
May 18, 2023 7:00 – 8:00 PM May business meeting
Canceled
May 21, 2023 at 2:00 – 4:00 PM “My American Story” – cosponsoring with CALex
ABCL is cosponsoring this event with CALex and others. This is the third event and it will be an in-person event on May 21 (Sunday) 2pm-4pm at the Lexington Depot.
May 27, 2023 Discovery Day
We will be representing at the annual Discovery Day. –
June 3, 2023 Black Music Month Benefit Concert – A Tribute to Florence Price
This event has been postponed until the fall of 2023
Association of Black Citizens of Lexington presents the Billy Kilson Quartet. Multiple Grammy award winning drummer, Billy Kilson headlines this celebration of Alan Dawson. Alan was a teacher who mentored and inspired Billy.
In addition to teaching at the Berklee College of Music, Billy tours internationally. He has performed with several famous musicians including Dave Holland, David Sanborn, Herbie Hancock, Ahmad Jamal, Ron Carter, Burt Bacharach, Glady’s Knight, Yo-Yo Ma, Chris Botti and Sting.
The Billy Kilson Jazz Quartet features Bill Pierce on Saxophone, Ron Mahdi on Bass, Russ Hoffman on Piano, and Billy Kilson on Drums. They will perform arrangements written by Alan Dawson and some favorites from Alan’s discography.
The Lexington High School Jazz Combo will open for the Billy Kilson Jazz Quartet. Founded in 1984, the group has performed extensively all over the country and in Europe, including the Monterrey Jazz Festival, the Montreax Jazz Festival, the Jazz Educators Network Conference, and the Charles Mingus Jazz Festival in New York. Honors include top prizes at the Mingus Festival, the UMass Jazz Festival and the UNH Jazz Festival
Don’t miss this spring’s must-attend jazz concert!
Pre-Concert Discussion at 6:30 with Billy Kilson and John Ramsay. John is the former head of percussion at The Berklee College of Music who studied with Alan Dawson, Max Roach, and Art Blakey. John has also written two books, Art Blakey’s Jazz Messages, and The Drummer’s Complete Vocabulary as Taught by Alan Dawson. John teaches in the Lexington home studio where Alan taught Billy and him.
Proceeds support ABCL scholarships.
Background on ABCL Black History Portrait Banner Honoree Alan Dawson Alan Dawson was a legendary drummer and educator, known for his work with the top artists in jazz as well as for his 18-year association with Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. Mr. Dawson’s teaching was inspirational. One of Mr. Dawson’s first students was a young Boston drummer named Tony Williams. According to Mr. Williams, “Mr. Dawson didn’t only teach me to play the drums, he taught me how to conduct myself as a musician and as a man.” Former student and 2021 NEA Jazz Master Terri Lyne Carrington calls Mr. Dawson “one of the greatest drummers and one of the greatest teachers in the world”. Ms. Carrington is the Artistic Director and Founder of the Berklee Institute of Jazz and Gender Justice Former student Osami Mizuno, a jazz drummer and educator from Japan, created and named a drum school and record label in honor of his drum instructor Alan Dawson.
