The Great Ones: Black Artists of Song from the Kennedy Center Honors

STREAMING PROGRAM INFORMATION

• This program is part of our Smithsonian Associates Streaming series.
• Platform: Zoom
• Online registration is required.
• If you register multiple individuals, you will be asked to supply individual names and email addresses so they can receive a Zoom link email. Please note that if there is a change in program schedule or a cancellation, we will notify you via email, and it will be your responsibility to notify other registrants in your group.

Harry Belafonte, Ella Fitzgerald, Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, and Smokey Robinson: These recipients of the Kennedy Center Honors were so incredibly talented and of such singular gifts they truly reshaped the music, entertainment, and songs of our times. They each blazed a unique path through our history and our hearts, reaching into every corner of popular culture. Nothing was the same after them. 

Join Sara Lukinson, filmmaker and writer for the Kennedy Center Honors for 38 years, to examine their lives and view clips of their performances. Some of their stories are filled with joy, while others are darkened by the long shadow of racial prejudice. Through both, our appreciation for them grows.

Lukinson, a multiple Emmy Award winner, created more than 200 short biographical films for the Kennedy Center Honors. She teaches at NYU and the 92nd Street Y.

Patron Information

• Once registered, patrons should receive an automatic email confirmation from CustomerService@SmithsonianAssociates.org.
• Separate Zoom link information will be emailed closer to the date of the program. If you do not receive your Zoom link information 24 hours prior to the start of the program, please email Customer Service for assistance.
• View Common FAQs about our Streaming Programs on Zoom.