Concert planned to benefit Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial

The Washington, DC Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial Project Foundation, Inc. announced today that Tommy Hilfiger, Russell Simmons, Quincy Jones, Joel Horowitz, David Stern and Edgar Bronfman, Jr. will spearhead a one-night only concert to benefit the building of Dr. King’s Memorial on the National Mall. The Dream Concert will be an historic gathering of all-star musicians to be announced in the near future. Music icons and Grammy Award winning songwriters and record producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis have come on board as artistic directors, while Muhammad Ali, Angela Bassett, Jamie Foxx, Whoopi Goldberg, Cuba Gooding, Jr., Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Kerry Washington and former Mayor David Dinkins are lending their support to the concert’s Host Committee. The Dream Concert will be held at the iconic Radio City Music Hall on September 18, 2007, with tickets available to the general public this summer.

The Dream Concert will embody the ideals of hope, love, democracy, and justice for which Dr. King stood. The concert will capture the essence of his lasting teaching by joining together musicians from across genre lines, featuring unique musical combinations not usually found on the same stage. The Memorial Foundation has already raised $79 million of the $100 million needed to complete and maintain the memorial, and this event will help secure the additional funds.

“I’m honored that such a diverse and committed group of leaders have come together for a concert to help raise the remaining funds,” said Harry E. Johnson, Sr. President and CEO of the Washington, DC Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial Project, Inc. “I am pleased to add our dedicated co-chairs to the growing list of citizens who already support the memorial.”

Last November, a series of national icons joined the Memorial Foundation to participate in the Ceremonial Groundbreaking. This distinguished group of individuals included: President George H. Bush, President William Jefferson Clinton, Oprah Winfrey, Senator Barack Obama, Reverend Jesse Jackson, Congressman John Lewis, Former United Nations Ambassador Andy Young, and Dorothy Height.

Washington, DC Martin Luther King, Jr. National Memorial Project Foundation, Inc.
A memorial honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. will be built on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. The Memorial will be situated adjacent to the F.D.R. Memorial and in a direct line between the Lincoln and Jefferson Memorials. Congress passed Joint Resolutions in 1996 authorizing Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. to establish a memorial honoring Dr. King to be built in Washington, DC. The Ceremonial Groundbreaking took place on November 13, 2006 and the Memorial is scheduled to be completed in 2008. Website: www.buildthedream.org.