I have a MLK story to share - a thread. In 1968 I was a little boy living in Memphis TN. My father was a young TV anchorman there at WMC-TV. He was very active in covering the Civil Rights movement, and I remember he had a hard hat that had a shotgun pellet through it 1/

Dr King had come to Memphis to help support the sanitation workers strike. But on the night he was to speak, April 3, 1968 there was severe weather in Memphis; it was under a tornado watch. Rumor was that Dr King was ill and was going to cancel his appearance that night 2/

The TV station decided it wasn’t going to send a reporter because it looked like there wasn’t going to be a speech from Dr King that night. But my dad was basically like wtf? This is MLK and what if he does show up to speak and we miss it? 3/

My dad found a cameraman but couldn’t find a person to run sound, so he said he would do it. When they arrived at the Masonic Temple, Dr King still wasn’t anywhere to be seen. But they set up anyway and waited. The weather grew worse and still no MLK. 4/

After over an hour Dr King shows up. They were the only TV station there. They switched on the lights and recorded his last speech: the “I’ve been to the Mountain” speech. My father recorded that speech and was responsible for it being captured at all. 5/

The very next day Dr King was assassinated at The Lorraine Motel. My father was at the hospital with Ralph Abernathy and Jesse Jackson when MLK was pronounced dead - what a moment he witnessed! My dad did the NBC radio National news pieces that day. 6/

And I’m posting this not to flex, but to pay respect to honorable men and women everywhere. Men like Dr King who fought for justice and a better world. Men like my father (who’s still around btw) who did the right thing even if it’s not convenient. 7/

I think about that day sometimes. What if Dr King decided to pass? What if my dad decided to pass? What would we have now if they had passed? We’d have no final speech and no record of Dr King saying this:

“We've got some difficult days ahead. But it really doesn't matter with me now, because I've been to the mountaintop. And 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.” 9/

In that day I saw how a regular person like my dad can do things that can rise to the level that even the greatest people can achieve. A normal person can make history if they follow a moral compass to do the right thing. /End

Here’s the speech and now you know more about how it exists: