Booking and details
Reserve Your SpotDates Fri, Jan 16, 2026, 7:30pm
Venue Folger Theatre
Tickets Free; Registration required
Duration 60 minutes
Each year, the Folger celebrates Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday with a free and family-friendly event featuring contemporary poets reading historic speeches from Dr. King and others. For this year’s celebration, the O.B. Hardison Poetry Series is excited to partner with Mosaic Theater Company to celebrate the life, legacy, and mission of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. with an exclusive performance of a scene from Mosaic’s highly-anticipated theater production, Young John Lewis: Prodigy of Protest.
Can’t join us in person? A live stream of the event will be available on our YouTube channel.
About Not Just Another Day Off
Not Just Another Day Off was created in 2008. Previous readers include Jericho Brown, Reginald Dwayne Betts, Camonghne Felix, Melanie Henderson, DeMaris Hill, Julian Randall, Joseph Ross, Truth Thomas, and more.
Not Just Another Day Off 2024
Not Just Another Day Off 2023
From our partners at Mosaic Theater Company
Young John Lewis: Prodigy of Protest
Book and Lyrics by Psalmayene 24
Music by Kokayi
Directed by Reginald L. Douglas
March 26 – April 26
It’s time to make some Good Trouble! In this new musical, Mosaic’s Playwright-in-Residence Psalmayene 24 honors the legendary “Conscience of Congress”: the late Congressman John Lewis.
Focusing on the Congressman’s formative years of ages 18-28, Young John Lewis: Prodigy of Protest reveals the humanity and heart of this mighty historic figure. The musical explores how the murder of Emmett Till motivated Lewis to pursue a life of service, including leading the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, fighting for Civil Rights with the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and working for nearly two decades in Congress.
A theatrical event not to be missed, Young John Lewis: Prodigy of Protest is both a galvanizing call to action and an inspiring reminder that we can all make a difference, no matter our age.
More events you may be interested in
The 2026 Anthony Hecht Poetry Prize Reading
The 2026 Eudora Welty Lecture: Kate DiCamillo
