Newspapers / The Carolina Times (Durham, … / Oct. 2, 1982, edition 1 / Page 17
Part of The Carolina Times (Durham, N.C.) / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
Walter Jones Performs Martin Luther King Portrayal of By Eddie Davis Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated in 1968; but recently many Durham , area residents have heard a voice that comes very close to duplicating the ; sound and " flavor of the real civil rights leader. Walter L. Jones, of Easton, Pennsylvania, has performed a portrayal of Dr. King at various locations in the area over the past few , weeks. -.- Hundreds by now have seen Jones' presentations which in cluded several of King's morel famous speeches and writings, such as "I Have A Dream", ."I've Been To The Mountain top"; and "Letter From A Birmingham Jail". Jones per-; formed "Dream" at the Rock quarry Music Festival severa. weeks ago and the "Moun ' taintop" speech recently at St Mark's Church.- - ; Although both presenta- tions were impressive, . the speech at St, Mark's seemed to1 be more authentic. Much of that authenticity probably had to do with the setting. King' just seems to be better received at a churchr Another reason T probably has to do with the overabundant use. of the "Dream" -speech.' It was refreshing to hear some of the variety of King's speeches. Many people have, recited the speeches of Dr. King. The aspect that makes Jones' , presentations different is the' research that has gone into capturing the mannerisms, the gestures, the tone quality, and the speech patterns of the Nobel Prize-winning leader. In a pre-performance inter- ; view, Jones said, "I met King in Chicago in the arly sixties and began to 'admire him greatly. I got all of the recor dings of his speeches and read anything ' that : I ' could - get hands on that was by or about 'him.'iy With a theater background and some experience as a com- ' icimpressionist, Jones said ; 'that he began to imitate the voice of King. But at this time, "I was only using the imita- -tions because I ' admired the man for what he was doing for our people" said Jones. It" was not until the assassination , of King that Jones began per forming to audiences. ' 4 r:. A y or M TV- j t J' I r 111 i. ) X" . . Sss'-- - .Jr "After the sniper shot and killed Dr. King in Memphis on April 4, 1968, 1 decided to use my theatrical experience and training to keep the memory of King and his works alive. I soon began to appear in chur ches, schools, and prisons in the Philadelphia area," said Jones. " According to the actor, the performances then were not like, the ones he gives today. "I was only reading the speeches WALTER L. JONES then, I had not yet captured the essence of King's per sonality. That took much more time and practice." And practice is just what Jones did. For several years he would work days as a photographer and study or perform King at night. ' .The work was hard, but rewarding. "! realized," he said, "that much of the study came easier " because of the similarity of my backsround and that of King." ,, Both men were born in Georgia. Although Jones moved to the North as a child, he said that he had first-hand experiences with, much of the discrimination and oppression that were experienced by King and most other blacks in the South. ! "I witnessed lynch : mobs, police brutality,'' Jones . said, "and other; overt and subtle examples of racism." Luther King, Mrs. Coretta Scott King. As he reputation , grew, Jones found himself being more and more in demand. He ventured beyond the state of Pennsylvania for - perfor mances. Soon he found himself traveling up and down ' the Eastern Seaboard. Jones and his wife, Jackie, 'expanded the performance in . to a 90-minute drama that in cluded lights, sound, and props. He said. "The highlight of my career thus far came this year on the 14th anniversary of Dr. King's death. I was in vited to appear and perform with Alex Haley at the Martin Luther King Shrine in Mem phis." Since that time, Jones has had engagements on raido and television. He recently ap peared on a syndicated televi sion program with Durham evangelist, Shirley Caesar. In fact, it was through Ms. Caesar that Jones - was in troduced to the Durham com munity. He appeared this sum mer at the annual Caesar Crusade here in Durham. At St. Mark Church, Jones gave the audience a look' at the fear that traveled constantly with Martin Luther King. He brought to life the threats of harm to the King family made by enemies of equality. As in any good production, the au dience soon began to use, its imagination and conjured1. up images of the King personali- ty. Jones' voice was very con vincing, but it was the gestures, the throwing of the head, and the emphatic wav ing of the arms that caused the attentive audience to nod with approval from beginning to end. He received a standing ovation at the end of the per formance. After his presentation, Jones and his wife circulated a petition encoaraging the Con gress to pass legislation that would make January 15, King's birthday, a national holiday. Walter Jones' portrayal of Martin. Luther King will be seen and heard by many in the future. It behooves any person who admired King to ex perience the talent and art of this very skillful performer.
The Carolina Times (Durham, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Oct. 2, 1982, edition 1
17
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75