The annual “Let Freedom Ring” concert honoring the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. is leaving the Kennedy Center after more than 20 years.
Since 2003, artists including Gladys Knight and the late Aretha Franklin have taken the Kennedy Center stage along with performers from Washington, D.C., churches to pay tribute to the civil rights champion who was assassinated in 1968.
When rapper Common hosts this year’s performance Monday, the soldout event will be hosted by D.C.’s Howard Theater. Georgetown University, which sponsors the tribute, said the move was made for financial reasons, according to NPR.
Former Kennedy Center artistic director for social impact Marc Bamuthi Joseph said holding the event at the recently renamed Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts this year wouldn’t make sense regardless.
“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,” Joseph told NPR.
Joseph left his job in May shortly after President Trump’s handpicked team was tapped to lead the storied cultural institution.
The center announced Tuesday that an event featuring Missionary Kings of Harmony of the United House of Prayer for All People’s Anacostia congregation would take the stage Monday when the nation formally observes King’s birthday.
Numerous artists have opted not to perform at the Kennedy Center since the Trump administration returned to power in January. Traditional Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve acts angered Trump-appointed administrators by canceling holiday shows after Trump’s name was added to the center’s facade.
