Original poster for "Dick Gregory and The Blackmotion Experience in 'Birth of a King'," at the Newark Symphony Hall, presented by Essex County College, January 15, 1971

Newark: Essex County College, 1971. Vintage poster for "Dick Gregory and The Blackmotion Experience in 'Birth of a King' / Fri., January 15, 1971," at the [Newark] Symphony Hall, presented by Essex Community College. OCLC locates no holdings. Scarce.

The nearly six-hour program, "Birth of a King," starring activist and comedian Dick Gregory, can be reasonably assumed to have been a celebration of the life of Martin Luther King Jr., though we have been unable to locate any documentation of the performance other than scant contemporary newspaper notices. The two contemporary local newspaper notices found however, note the performance of "Birth of King" on January 15, 1971, was held at the RKO Proctor's Theatre in Newark, not the [Newark] Symphony Hall as noted on the poster. We have also been unable to find any record of the performance ensemble "The Blackmotion Experience," which headlined the program with Gregory.

The January 14, 1971 issue of "The Jersey Journal" noted the performance in their "Cultural Calendar" as "Birth of a King, Afro-American Art and Music, at RKO Procter [sic] Theater, 116 Market St. , Newark, Tomorrow, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.," and the January 15, 1971 issue of "The Herald-News" noted the performance in their "Cultural Calendar" as "The Birth of a King - Afro-American program of music and arts, sponsored by Essex County College. RKO Proctor Theater, 116 Market St., Newark. Today, 10-4."

14 x 22 inches on heavy card stock. Very Good plus, with faint colored pencil annotations to the top right, dampstaining to the bottom, and some edgewear, including several closed tears and a small chip to the lower left side.

[Book #163219]