We've been thinking a lot about history, and our place in it. Local musician Jacqueline Nassar drove the Blues Highway from the Mississippi Delta to the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis today. It's at the Lorraine Motel where Martin Luther King was killed. He had been in Memphis to lead a march.
Biographer Taylor Branch says Martin Luther King's last words were to a musician. Ben Branch was to play at an event that evening. Dr. King said, "Ben, make sure you play 'Take My Hand, Precious Lord' in the meeting tonight. Play it real pretty." It was his favorite song.
Jacqueline sang it here. And she sang it real pretty.
Raising her voice above a literal storm, Jaxx sang: "Precious Lord, take my hand. Lead me on. Let me stand. I am tired, I am weak, I am worn. Through the storm, through the night, lead me on to the light. Precious Lord, take my hand. Lead me home." Wherever we are, may we stand in light. Thanks for this, Jaxx.