Ben, make sure you play Take My Hand, Precious Lord in the meeting tonight. Play it real pretty.

These were Martin Luther King Jr’s last words, 40 years ago today. Moments earlier James Earl Ray shot King while he was standing outside of his room on the 2nd floor balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis.

450 miles to the north, in Indianapolis, Robert Kennedy was about to give a campaign speech to a gathering of mostly African Americans when he received the news. Rather than give his speech, he stepped to the podium and delivered the news to a stunned audience.

If you can, take six minutes and listen to RFK’s speech and imagine the significance of this moment 40 years ago… and today.

Related…

• Video of Martin Luther King Jr’s last speech, I’ve Been to the Mountaintop, delivered the night before his assassination.
• Video of Mahalia Jackson singing Precious Lord Take My Hand, the song she sang at King’s funeral.