The Drum Major Instinct presents dramatic readings by acclaimed actors of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s The Drum Major Instinct--a powerful, cautionary sermon about the impulse in all humans to be first--for diverse audiences, with the goal of generating powerful dialogue about racism, inequality, and social justice, fostering compassion, understanding, and positive action. These readings are accompanied by original and arranged music composed and conducted by Dr. Philip Woodmore, featuring a choir of diverse singers from St. Louis, Missouri and New York City. On Sunday, February 4, 1968, Dr. King delivered The Drum Major Instinct at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia, exactly two months before his assassination in Memphis, Tennessee. In it, he prophetically spoke of his own imminent death and laid out a challenge to his congregation, and also the world, to harness an inborn human drive--"the desire to be out front, a desire to lead the parade, a desire to be first"-- and use it to promote justice, righteousness, and peace by channeling it into acts of service and love. The "distorted personality," King argued, fails to harness this" the drum major instinct" for good and instead, "ends up trying to
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