Saving King
Description
Vocal Characteristics
Language
EnglishVoice Age
Middle Aged (35-54)Accents
North American (General) North American (US General American - GenAM)Transcript
Note: Transcripts are generated using speech recognition software and may contain errors.
from Saving King. The time is the fourth of April 1968 a cool spring evening close on six PM The place is a predominantly black neighborhood on the south edge of downtown Memphis, Tennessee, an area of run down homes and low incomes. At 4 50 Mulberry Street, there sits a small, modestly upscale boarding establishment, the Lorraine Motel. It is two stories, and there is a pool installed by the motels longtime owner Mr Walter Bailey. The motel is popular among black musicians who frequent the nearby Stax Records. Over the years, these have included Ray Charles, Lionel Hampton, Aretha Franklin, Ethel Waters and Otis Redding before his death the year before. Across the street and beyond, a small, brushy knoll is a two story brick rooming house for 22 Main Street. On the second floor of this shoddy establishment, at the window of a small bathroom, a man named James Earl Ray waits with a 30 aught six rifle. Ray has a clear view of the Lorraine Motel of Room 306 on the second floor. It is one minute after six in the evening, and in the time it takes a bullet to fly the length of the knoll. Everything changes. Martin Luther King, 39 years old, has already survived one assassination attempt. 10 years earlier, on September 20th 1958 a deranged black woman with the Bewitched name of Aysel occur plunged a steel letter opener into his chest. His sternum. Actually, while he was holding a book signing at a Harlem bookstore. Three hours of emergency surgery at Harlem Hospital saved his life. The blade missed his aorta by a hair's breath. He will not be nearly so lucky this time.