Six Houstonians who have helped to advance the cause of civil rights will be be honored at the second annual Houston in Concert Against Hate, officials with The Anti-Defamation League revealed. Officials chose July 2, the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Civil Rights Act by President Lyndon B. Johnson, to unveil the concert.
The Nov. 13 concert at the Hobby Center for the Performing Arts — which will also commemorate the milestone anniversary of the signing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 — will include performances by Alley Theatre, Asia Society, Celebration Theatre, Main Street Theater, Stages Repertory Theatre, Talento Bilingue de Houston, The Ensemble Theatre, Theatre Under the Stars and the University of Houston School of Theatre and Dance.
"All of these theater companies are coming together for the first time and so this concert is very special."
"All of these theater companies are coming together for the first time and so this concert is very special in that aspect," said Martin Cominsky, regional director for the ADL Southwest Regional Office.
Between the narrated honors for the civil rights heroes, the eight participating theater companies will perform vignettes from plays dealing with civil rights issues. The honorees are attorney Benny Agosto, Jr., ACE Theatrical Group chairman Allen Becker, pioneering physician Dr. Edith Irby Jones, University of Houston chancellor Renu Khator, and Legacy Community Health Services and Cristo Rey Jesuit College Preparatory School of Houston and its founding president, Father T.J. Martinez.
Emmy and Academy Award-winning actor Louis Gossett, Jr. will serve as master of ceremonies.
"It's a great honor and I feel very humbled," Agosto Jr. said at a press conference. "But more importantly we're bringing together a lot of members of the community in celebrating 50 years of the Civil Rights Act and hopefully planning what else we can do to continue our work. We've had success in the last 50 years and it's been great and we celebrate that, but it's important that we look forward."
For more information, visit the Houston in Concert Against Hate website.
Benny Agosto Jr. and five other honorees will saluted at the second annual Houston Concert Against Hate in November.
