 I have a dream that little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character. I'm your host Sharon Thomas Yarbrough, welcome and thank you for joining Sister Power. Our topic for this episode is I Have a Dream, celebrating the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. I Have a Dream is a public speech delivered by American civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. during the march on Washington for Jobs and Freedom on August 28, 1963 in which he calls for an end to racism in the United States and called for civil and economic rights, delivered to over 250,000 civil rights supporters from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. The speech was a defining moment of the civil rights movement. Today we will discuss his voice, his teachings, his love for humanity with Sister Power VIP guest, artist Kimberly Keyes. Hi Kimberly, my dear friend. Finally we've made it. Yes we did. Good. Thank you for coming on Sister Power. Thank you for having me. You're welcome. Tell us a little bit about yourself. Well, I really started out totally different field. Currently I do work in education and I also am an artist. So I would probably have to go back to when I went back to school in my late 20s and got my education. I studied psychology and I also went and got a master's in business administration. So from there I worked in business and I taught for many years and then I also moved back to Hawaii. Our family came back in 2009 and I'm still in education, but I started work and I actually started working in art about two years ago during the Martin Luther King celebration that the NAACP held and that's when it all started. Oh, wonderful. Well, I'm just so excited about this weekend and as you can see here that you have a portrait that you've painted of Dr. Martin Luther King. Yes I did. Tell us about the inspirations behind your artwork. Well, my inspiration really started with Martin Luther King. When we had our celebration about two years ago, the MLK Gala, I wanted to do something for the silent auction and so it was because of the Martin Luther King Gala that really woke me up into developing my talent and doing something for the silent auction. So I created a portrait of President Barack Obama and I had no idea what the reception would be for this and it went up for auction and someone actually bought it and I was thrilled and excited and from then on I just continued painting because it's just been a passion for me and I think it's a calling that God has given me and he started it off with the MLK Gala. Well, we have a painting here with President Barack Obama and Dr. King and this happens to be my personal painting which is just absolutely fabulous. Well let's go back a little bit about the history of Dr. Martin Luther King and let's talk about Rosa Park and all she wanted to do was have a seat and it's just started from there. She wanted to have a seat and Rosa Park rode at the front of a Montgomery Alabama bus on the day of the Supreme's Court's ban on segregation of the city's buses took effort. Just tell me your viewpoints on Rosa Parks. Well Rosa Parks, she was already involved with the NAACP from what I understand. She was a secretary for NAACP and there was a particular driver of the bus that she did not want to ride with because she had gotten off his bus one time because she was told she needed to enter the back side of the bus. Well she got outside and as she was going to the back side of the bus he took off and she said never again I'm not going to ride with this man again. So the next time that she did end up getting on the bus she sat somewhere in the middle because the way the buses were loaded the white people had preference for the front and then there was a middle section and a back section so as black people in that middle section were sitting there if white people came and that full section was full they had to move back. So she's riding on the bus and she happens to see it's the same bus driver she saw and she was already upset about that and then so when someone came over white person to tell her to give up her seat she simply refused and that's where you know it all began and I greatly admire her for her courage and standing up for I will not get up off of this out of my seat I am not going to do it and she didn't. You know I think this is so important for the young generation to really know you know where we came from and how far we've come and as Oprah said on the show that she gave that great speech she brought up Rosa Parks name regarding Reese Taylor and I think Rosa Parks was the one to investigate the rape she was raped by six white men and she just passed away not long ago and ninety-some years old so history is just moving forward constantly and I think that this is very important for the generation to know because you do teach the young kids about our history and so talk more about the NAACP. Okay so well with the NAACP I'm executive chairperson for the youth I'm sorry for community relations okay there's another organization that I work for the youth and that's Lynx Incorporated and I'm the chairperson for the youth and also with my church I work with the youth so what I begin to do was start building this gallery so I can try to build awareness for culture for the children to learn about their history and mainly to learn about fine art and what it's like to to see it experience and even do it you know in workshops okay well let's view some of your artwork you you did bring a few pieces with you yes I did several pieces with you this is wonderful and the first piece you're going to talk about yeah so what I did is I made some mini bios based on the portraits that I have my portraits kind of come and go because if someone buys it or something happened I have to kind of replenish so I needed to replenish Martin Luther King so I'm very very happy that I was able to do that and I made many bios on each one of my portraits so and it's hard to put them on a little tiny card that I wanted to make them short and small especially as people go through and view the portraits and then they can also go and study more about each person but it's mainly to encourage the children and to just give them to something to think about and something to continue to learn about well Martin Luther King was a son of a preacher man yes he was and he was a minister as well yes he was and just my my father for instance the day that they aired him giving that speech I have a dream I was in my teens that was such a powerful powerful speech and what I remember and I would call from it is when he said we're free we're free thank god almighty we're free at last that really resonated with me and so you did this painting how long did it take you to paint Martin Luther King oh I think I worked on it continuously for about a week one week yeah continuously I'm talking day and night and I chose this particular pose because of the motion in his eyes and him pointing out you know during his speech and it just it just captured me and I said you know this is the pose that I wanted to do for him oh that's wonderful and what is your next painting did you want to say elaborate a little more about your painting let's see well I just want to say as far as Martin Luther King what I have on to tell the children you know as they go through is to just let them know that his legacy is to secure progress on civil rights united states and also days after his assassination that's when they passed the civil rights act of 1968 1968 and today it was not sassinated and hopefully he would you know his legacy doesn't live it would be 89 years old and that's still 89 years young yeah that's not very old no not today not today okay all right so the civil rights movement and we have the non-violent social change the center he has a center for non-violent social change and I didn't bring anything on that but it does you know it is part of his legacy yes and you know what he has left with us and it's just a wonderful thing so I have portraits that I brought that's gonna start with Martin Luther King and then I'd like to just work out my way through other people that have contributed to the civil rights movement we would love to see that okay yes every take you from this journey all right I'm excited about this journey so what I did was I went to my gallery because my gallery has several all kinds of people from different backgrounds different categories so I went and picked a few and picked a few of my favorites that does have to do with civil rights one of my very very favorites that I love is Frederick Douglass oh take tell us a little bit about Frederick Douglass oh well this is a history lesson I love that Fred this is a history lesson for first off well for Frederick Douglass okay he was born Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey and he lived February 18th through February 20th 1895 he was a social reformer about abolitionist orator writer and statesman and he's really dear to my heart because I went to visit his home in Virginia and it was it just really really touched my heart to actually see how he lived to be able to go into his different rooms where he wrote where he slept where he ate he was just a magnificent man he escaped slavery as you know and so what he has in his living room is he has separating the living room and another room he has the balls and chains on his curtains to remind himself where he came from so he will never ever forget and this fabulous beautiful home on top of the hill so that really touched me too oh my goodness so he escaped slavery and went on to become one of the most prominent leaders to fight the end of slavery and abolition movement led to the passage of the 13th amendment so that was something that was very important and he also advocated for women's suffrage as well you know and he was the first African-American to be appointed as U.S. Marshall and was also appointed the U.S. minister to Haiti in 1889 wow he's also special to me because he's one of my very first paintings this is your first he's one of my very very first paintings and when he appeared on this paper it just threw me a back the emotions on his face what he must be thinking it just really captured me so I'm just I'm so much in awe of that yeah it's beautiful absolutely so how long have you been painting I've actually been doing this for about two years straight now this is going into my second year two years yes yes so this is all new to me it doesn't look like that at all my goodness thank you I mean how you perfected his eyes and the hair and his beard I think it's a very spiritual thing I really I do not think that it is me it's coming it's through me that God is working through me and how this appears on the paper God is good that is good absolutely all right and what people should know about the civil rights movement is blacks and whites together when Dr. Martin Luther King gave his speech on that day you would see people that were locking arms together the late great Lena Horne yes and Sidney Portier and Harry Belafonte so everyone is all about peace this is what people want peace and unity peace and unity yes all right carry us on through your journey all right so the next person that I have is another favorite all right well what we're going to do we're going to come back and we're going to take a break okay with Kimberly Keys and join us for I Have a Dream celebrating the legacy of Martin Luther King for every game day a sign had designated driver what big eyes you have she said what are you doing research says reading from birth accelerates our baby's brain development push read aloud 15 minutes every child every parent every day welcome back to sister power I have a dream celebrating the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King and this is Dr. Martin Luther King's birthday that's coming up Monday and I'm so happy that all across the world people are celebrating Martin Luther King day before I go any further artist Kimberly Keys I want to congratulate you and I did read congratulations on showcasing two paintings one of president Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama which will be presented to hang at the Barack H. Obama Elementary Magnet School of Technology in Atlanta Georgia congratulations what an accomplishment for an artist who's been painting for two years well I don't know what to say about that but I'm absolutely thrilled about that I think that that's what this is all about sharing what my gift is and I hope those children enjoy it and I hope that maybe someday the president and first lady will see some of my work that's on the wall too and enjoy it as well oh they will well you are taking us on a journey with your fabulous artwork and who are we is this Harriet Tubman absolutely oh Harriet Tubman tell us a little bit about Harriet Tubman well first of all Harriet Tubman we did have her we did have her presented at the African-American Film Festival last year yes and we had a wonderful film about her and she also touched many hearts and one of the things that really makes it all work for me as an artist is that when people came out of the room they were so touched by the story of Harriet Tubman and then they see the painting and I had one woman she just broke out in tears and she's crying as she's looking at the painting well this what people understand now is the struggle that African-Americans went through and the history that she was able to put her life on the line and take this from freedom that's right take this from slavery to freedom I should say that's right that's right and so if I can say a little bit about Harriet Tubman now she was born Araminta Brass she was born 1822 we don't have the exact date but 1822 and died March 10th 1913 she was an abolitionist human humanitarian an armed scout and a spy for the U.S. Army during the civil war so the legacy that she leaves with us is of course we know she was born into slavery she escaped and made 13 missions to save other slaves and she used a network called the underground railroad where there were safe houses and places that people can go and work their way into freedom she later helped in another abolitionist his name was John Brown and she helped recruit people for his cause and that was to raid Harper's Ferry in the post-war era okay well let's move on to the next painting oh yes strong and fierce the next one that I do have he's also another very beginning painting very beginning this is W. E. B. DuBlois oh yes and he's one of my probably maybe my third or fourth and he was born William Edgar Burghardt and his birthday is February 23rd 1868 through August 27th 1963 so he was an American sociologist he was a historian civil rights activist pan-africanist author writer and editor author and yeah and so his legacy is he was the first african-american to earn a PhD from Harvard very first yes he was yes and he also laid the foundation for the african-american struggle for equal rights so he's there I mean from the very very beginning he also co-founded the NAACP and he was the editor for the the newsletter for the NAACP as well okay and that was in 1909 so he wrote five novels three autobiographies and he's a leading writer of his lifetime during that time period he was also the voice for the black community for a lot of young african-americans so he was a huge contribution another trailblazer all right and let's see who you okay well this is what I love it I love this too and so we remind people that this weekend is dr. Martin Luther King's birthday absolutely this weekend is his birthday and we do have the MLK gala okay and that's coming up saturday january 13th and it's going to be at the um pomacai ballrooms at dole cannery that's wonderful you know years ago when the african-american association was formed we had the honor to have martin luther king the third as our speaker and that was such an honor to have him there it's just wonderful so i'm so glad that this is moving forward and i see one of my favorites is Nina Simone she's one of my favorites too oh i have another strong black woman yes Nina Simone now did you know that she was born unice kathleen wayman the only reason why i know that is because the honey blue african-american uh the honey blue african-american film festival the committee we honored her a few years ago Nina Simone just a fierce woman yes and i was there and that was a wonderful presentation and i truly honored that's why i painted her gorgeous oh thank you yes and so uh american singer songwriter wonderful pianist yes classical pianist um arranger and civil rights activist so the legacy that nina leaves with us as she was known as the voice of civil rights movement she wrote missus mississippi god damn in response to the 1963 assassination of medgar evers and the birmingham uh church bombing which killed the four little girls uh yeah yeah and so she was a very strong um uh civil rights activists and she did so many things um towards the cause of civil rights well she's you know one of the women that i so admire because we're women as women we're still you know fortunately head we still want to be respected and listen to so she did break ground before it was a really time to break ground yes she did yeah all right so who do we have next well well well who do we have next this one has a little story to it and i'll try to be quick but this is miss angela davis and angela davis um this one's very special to me because she happened to sign this for me oh i see yeah i think it's 2016 and she was visiting here in honolulu she was visiting here in honolulu her second time a dear friend of mine surprised me and seated me right next to her and i look up and there she is and i happen to have that painting thinking hey if i see her maybe she'll sign it and i was right next to her and she signed it and so it was a wonderful experience um so this of course is absolutely one of my favorite paintings as well of course that's a masterpiece because you have the signature of angela davis and just tell us a little bit about angela davis well now she was born angela evan davis born january 26 1944 she's a political activist and academic and an author and so she did come out to honolulu and speak to us we had a wonderful time um her legacy leaves us there's so much to talk about but just to keep it as a mini bio um she has addressed civil and women's rights poverty and peace health care and prison reform 1970 her activism and prisoners rights led to her arrest and trial on charges of kidnapping conspiracy and murder her imprisonment inspired the international free angela movement her case became the symbol of the abusive power of the criminal justice system against minorities and she was acquitted in 1972 yeah i just remember all that time yes this is so wonderful that you were able to bring some of your artwork kimberley and unfortunately we have to close but i want the people to know the keys to art is a large traveling art gallery focusing on various themes including hawaiian culture and promoting black history you did definitely gave us a black history lesson so to end of this note 10 seconds or less please let the people know on monday where to go at what time and where we to meet for the parade and rally oh yes so that's very exciting we're having the parade in the rally january 15th and um the parade is going to start at magic island and it goes all the way through to capulani park and the parade starts at nine o'clock all the festivities start at nine o'clock so i will have my gallery i'll have a huge white tent there if we're able to get that thing up because i just got it so i can get it together and uh we'll have an art gallery and we'll have lots of paintings and prints to sell well thank you well thank you for spending part of your day with us and we appreciate you joining sister to power and thank you kimberley happy martin with the king day