Duke Multicultural Organization (MCO) presented “Martin Luther King: A Musical Program” at Reynolds Industries Theater 7 p.m., Sunday. The performance served as an artistic celebration of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., featuring multiple student groups from Duke, Elon University and North Carolina Central University.
The Chronicle spoke with the show’s co-directors Gabriel Bostick and Damilola Bankole about MCO and its latest project.
The project started to take shape before Bostick and Bankole came to Duke. Inspired by the musical "Hamilton," Bostick wrote his first musical program in high school to tell the stories of trailblazers like MLK. The idea of staging an MLK musical program at Duke came to him while he was rewatching Hamilton. Bostick discussed his idea with Reverend Racquel, Duke Chapel’s minister of intercultural engagement, and initially decided to set the performance in the chapel. After a summer of scriptwriting, Bostick’s idea reached what would eventually become MCO through the Armstrong Ambassador Program under the Center for Multicultural Affairs (CMA).
At the time, MCO was just an idea. However, Bankole's and Bostick's enthusiasm for culture eventually brought them together as co-founders of MCO in fall 2023. Bankole first conceived MCO during the fall of her first year, and further developed the idea with the support of the CMA’s associate directors Lauren Denton and Alex Espaillat. Bankole felt that Duke’s social environment had “just a bit of self-segregation” and “wanted to create a space that was intentional for students who wanted to learn about other people.”
What makes their musical program unique is that people each bring their own part and ideas – the project is a product of everyone involved, not just Bostick and Bankole. After visiting a show at Elon and hearing a remix version of “Lift Every Voice,” Bostick encountered a friend who later joined MCO’s musical program. Collaboration is what made MCO’s project possible.
The musical program includes dance, acapella, theatrical performance, documentary and behind-scene videos, as well as recorded speeches from MLK. Bostick sees musical programs as edutainment — entertaining educational content — that appeals to “both the desire to learn and the desire to be actively engaged.” Bostick described “the heart of a musical program” as “bringing the entertainment aspect of a musical and the educational aspect of a program,” allowing students to engage with stories in artistic and educational ways.
Speaking of his inspiration, Bostick said, “It was a major God inspiration.” His faith fueled his creativity. He described combining diverse artistic forms with consistent flow, drawing from previous shows, especially stand-up pieces and a song from “Black & White to Grey,” a play he wrote and choreographed in high school.
The pre-production stage focused on writing to bring different artistic elements together. “Writers are excellent listeners,” Bostick said. Bostick’s writing was inspired by a line in “Queen of Katwe,” a drama about a girl who learns to play chess and becomes a Woman Candidate Master after her victory at the World Chess Olympiads. “In chess, the little one can become the big one.” Similarly, the MLK musical program weaves together a network of sparks and ideas and has “a message beautifully integrated in [a story] not in a way that’s cheesy but in a way that reaches people.”
Regarding challenges, Bankole said, “the road to this program, honestly, was just filled with so many blessings.” Faith connects the directors with MLK, helping them understand the source of MLK’s strength and succeed in the face of their own challenges. Bostick and Bankole were able to manage financial issues and community outreach with faith. They handled larger-than-anticipated budgets, worked with a tight presentation window, secured interviews with MLK’s family and maintained collaboration while Bankole was studying abroad.
MCO has fostered other collaborations in Fall 2024, including culture chats led by students from different cultures, a research project on Black trailblazers in Duke's history, a firechat with Duke International Student Center (DISC) and Beyond Borders, a collaboration with CMA in Unity Through Diversity (UTD) and a series of dance workshops with the Duke Dance Program. Through the MLK musical program, “we’re able to see that one side of African American culture, and it’s still just like a small glimpse because it’s so rich, every single culture is so rich and filled with so many different themes that are hard to display in one event,” Bankole said. MCO plans to expand into community service projects beyond campus.
“For us to be world thinkers, we must see the world; for us to be world changers, we must learn from those who changed the world.” The motto of MCO, created by Bankole and Bostick, encourages global-mindedness. Bankole views storytelling and listening as critical ways of seeing the world, while Bostick emphasizes the importance of understanding the thought-process of trailblazers to reprepare themselves with what they might face in front of changes.
“Art is not an option, it is a necessity,” Bostick said, “Duke cannot be a great institution without the arts.” He believes that arts access is fundamental to message delivery. “It is wonderful to have a homebase, but it is also important to extend that homebase to others,” Bostick said. “We wanted to remain a space where people know [that] Duke MCO will always be a space where people will be loved, seen and appreciated.”
For those who were unable to attend the show, a recording is available here.
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Tina Qian is a Trinity sophomore and an arts editor for Recess.