Notable Speakers and Performers
Fountain Street Church has served as a platform for a variety of performers since 1928 when senior minister Alfred Wesley Wishart debated Clarence Darrow over the topic “Is There a General Purpose in the Universe?” Winston Churchill, Eleanor Roosevelt, Amelia Earhart, Robert Frost, Malcolm X, Paul Tillich, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Kweisi Mfume, Irshad Manji, and Jim Wallis have all appeared at the church's behest. Since 2009 Angela Davis, Margaret Atwood, Morris Dees, Nicholas Kristof, Louis Farrakhan, Christopher Hitchens & Peter Hitchens, and Nikki Giovanni have also appeared there through organizations with which the church is partnered, such as the Diversity Learning Center of Grand Rapids Community College. Overall, more than 100 speakers have appeared. In addition, notable musicians who have performed in the Sanctuary include Dave Brubeck, Stan Kenton, Ella Fitzgerald, Duke Ellington, Frank Zappa, Grateful Dead, MC5, Alison Krauss, Richie Havens and Arlo Guthrie. The church was also a venue for Gilda's Laugh Fest in 2012 hosting such comedians as Bo Burnham.
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“The reason I’m in this business, I assume all performers are—it’s “Look at me, Ma!” It’s acceptance, you know—”Look at me, Ma, look at me, Ma, look at me, Ma.” And if your mother watches, you’ll show off till you’re exhausted; but if your mother goes, Ptshew!”
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