Published April 5, 2005, in the Kirksville Daily Express

Story by Matthew Webber

KIRKSVILLE - Before appearing on the Baldwin Auditorium stage to read the works of Langston Hughes and Martin Luther King Jr. Saturday night, actors Danny Glover and Felix Justice said the two men's words are as necessary today as they ever were.

"I always feel that even though these both brilliant men were the ones who were able to use that language - both of them were extraordinary with the use of language - the language also belongs to all of us," said Glover, famous for his film roles in "The Color Purple" and the "Lethal Weapon" series.

Justice, a 30-year veteran of the stage who starred in a one-man King show in 1981 before teaming with his old friend for their touring performances, agreed the messages of the late poet and civil rights leader continue to resonate today for a new generation of listeners.

"[The show] is relevant because these two people are," Justice said. "I guess you could call them seminal figures in the 20th century fight for equal rights in the United States.

"They spearheaded a movement, which has still not been resolved, and so we still look to them for answers to questions that are relevant to us today."

Several years ago, Glover and Justice chose to bring their show to colleges like Truman State University to interact with younger people and teach them a sense of history.

The goal of both actors in "An Evening with Langston and Martin," the school year's final performance of the Kohlenberg Lyceum Series, was not to portray two real-life characters but rather to begin a conversation on campus that would continue after the applause.

"Going to college campuses granted us the opportunity to engage ourselves and to interact with young students and have a dialogue with those students," said Glover, who later that night would read and discuss Hughes' poetry.

"Both of us came of age as students at a very extraordinary time in this country's history in the late '60s, and certainly a great deal of who we are today is really a manifestation of that experience," he said, recalling his own years as a college student during the American civil rights movement.

"When we think about this [performance], we also think of ourselves as serving. We chose, as King described, one of the highest levels of human engagement and involvement that one could be a part of."

Justice, who later would perform an anti-war King speech, brought his own life experiences into his performance, having grown up at the same time and with a similar southern upbringing as King.

"I come from essentially the same background as Martin Luther King comes from," Justice said. "I come from Martin Luther King's generation. When I talk about his words, they are not second-hand things to me. They are things I have actually experienced."

After listening to the readings and participating in a brief question-and-answer session that touched on the current war climate and Glover's favorite social causes, the audience gave the pair a standing ovation - even those who were too young to have heard Hughes or King speak live.

It is these listeners the actors are trying their hardest to reach.

"I think most of us - you, I, Danny Glover, all of us - we generally think the world began with our lives," Justice said.

"We tend to believe that whatever we have experienced, other people have also experienced.

"So it came as somewhat of a surprise to me when I realized that although I had seen Martin Luther King speak, I had heard him speak [and] I was in his presence; most of the people in the world today weren't alive at that time."

Whether he is talking to college students like his daughter or Truman state students, Justice's message is the same:

"I find it to be a really, really enriching thing to know people different from yourself. And I would encourage people to do it now that we have the opportunity, because when I was a boy we didn't have that opportunity."