"I'VE BEEN TO THE MOUNTAINTOP"

IN MEMORIAM

Excerpts from the legendary Mountaintop speech
given by Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in Memphis, Tennessee
the day before he was assassinated on April 4, 1968 at the age of 39.

"And then I got to Memphis. And some began to talk about the threats that were out. What would happen to me from some of our sick white brothers? (Previous lines often not quoted.) Well, I don't know what will happen now. We've got some difficult days ahead. But it doesn't really matter with me now. Because I've been to the mountaintop. I don't mind. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life; longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the Promised Land. So I'm happy, tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord."

SHELTON BLOG NOTE:

The Rev. Dr Martin Luther King Jr. often sent his wife, Coretta Scott King, a bouquet of fresh flowers when he was traveling around the country.

In March 1968, three weeks before his assassination, Rev. Dr. King sent his wife a bouquet of artificial red carnations. Mrs. King was later to comment, "What was so strange was that he always sent me fresh flowers, and these were artificial. When I asked why, Martin said he wanted me to have something I could keep, as if he knew they would have to last a very long time."

This was the last bouquet Mrs. King was ever to receive from her husband.

Since Mrs. King's death in January 2006, the bouquet of red flowers has been on display in a glass case at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change ("The King Center") in Atlanta, Georgia. Mason County Progressive