Annual Kennedy Center MLK Day concert moving to Howard Theatre: ‘I would much rather that we all be spared the hypocrisy’

Common will headline the annual Let Freedom Ring MLK Day concert moving locations from the Kennedy Center to save money.

Let Freedom Ring, the annual concert held at the Kennedy Center to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day, will be changing locations for the first time in its more than 20-year history.

The event, known for pairing A-list headliners with a choir made up of singers from Black church choirs in Washington, D.C., and Georgetown University, will take place this year at the historic Howard Theatre, according to NPR.

This year’s concert, headlined by rapper Common, arrives at a moment when the Trump Administration’s anti-diversity, equity, and inclusion rhetoric has stretched to the Kennedy Center itself, placing the storied performing arts institution at the center of a growing cultural fight. From installing a board of loyalists to slapping his name on the building, the president has all but taken over. 

The move to change locations follows several high-profile acts who have canceled or rescheduled upcoming programming at the embattled arts center, including Issa Rae, the producers of “Hamilton,” and Rhiannon Giddens. Officials have cited cost savings as the primary reason for the venue change. However, organizers, including Marc Bamuthi Joseph, the Kennedy Center’s former artistic director for social impact, didn’t hold back in expressing their relief to take the event elsewhere this year.

“I would much rather that we all be spared the hypocrisy of celebrating a man who not only fought for justice, but who articulated the case for equity maybe better than anyone in American history … when the official position of this administration is an anti-equity position,” he told the outlet.

The annual concert launched in 2003 with Roberta Flack as its first headliner at the Kennedy Center and has since welcomed music legends like Aretha Franklin, Gladys Knight, and Chaka Khan.

This year’s program will also feature a new piece by Let Freedom Ring composer Nolan Williams Jr., who has been with the concert since 2003. The work, titled “Just Like Selma,” is inspired by one of King’s most enduring quotes: “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”

While many interpret that quote as a sign that progress unfolds naturally over time, Williams emphasized that the arc doesn’t bend on its own—making the song a reminder of collective responsibility.

“We have to be agents of change. We have to be active arc movers, arc benders,” Williams said.

Meanwhile, the Kennedy Center’s intended MLK Day celebration will feature the Missionary Kings of Harmony of the United House of Prayer for All People’s Anacostia congregation.