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I grinned

“The FBI cut ave me the coin and toldBy then I’d changed I was a different person Martin’s death made me someone else entirely A new man, one I came to embrace and like”

I needed more details so I decided to probe “Why in Memphis?”

“Martin didn’t want it to happen in Atlanta That would be too close to his family He also wanted to die at a dra Meer real Looking back, it seeht of April 3, before he went to sleep, he told me to set it up for the next day at 6:00 PM He said he would make sure he was out on the balcony at the Lorraine for several et So I told Jansen where and when and to be ready if the opportunity presented itself Of course, I knew that it would”

I could only ie that had taken

“There was a big rally scheduled for the night of the third at the Masonic Temple The weather was bad Rain, with a threat of tornadoes Martin was battling a cold and was a little depressed, as you o Abernathy went instead to address the crowd, but they wanted Martin They chanted for Martin So Ralph called the Lorraine Martin was already asleep I answered the phone and, at Ralph’s insistence, went to wake him He was really moved that so many people wanted him to be there, so he dressed and we both went over to the temple”

I was arained in his memory

“When we got there a huge thunderstorm erupted Rain pounded the roof Thunder clapped It was almost biblical, like a sound effect from a movie Martin took the pulpit and the place went dead silent Keep in , so he’d prepared no reht from the heart It was nearly a year to the day since he’d denounced the war and started a public free fall The last year of his life was about over He already knew that a white un him down at 6:00 PM the next day Have you ever studied what he said that night? What they now call the Mountaintop Speech”

I shook my head

Foster stood fro with a book containing the published works of Martin Luther King Jr

He opened to the right page and passed it to me

I read

CHAPTER SIXTY

So in Memphis

So in our world

And you know, if I were standing at the beginning of tieneral and panoramic view of the whole of huhty said to e would you like to live in?” Strangely enough, I would turn to the Alhty, and say, “If you allow me to live just a few years in the second half of the 20th century, I will be happy”

Now that’s a strange statement to make, because the world is all messed up The nation is sick Trouble is in the land Confusion all around

That’s a strange statement

But I know, soh can you see the stars And I see God working in this period of the twentieth century in a way that

So in our world

Theup And wherever they are assembled today the cry is always the same We want to be free Now, I’m just happy that God has allowed

And I’m happy that He’s allowed me to be in Memphis

Nohat does all of this reat period of history?

It ether andthe period of slavery in Egypt he had a favorite for it