NEW YORK (AP) — When a young Aretha Franklin accompanied the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. to churches in the early days of the civil rights movement, he usually made a special request for her to sing one song in particular: "Take My Hand, Precious Lord."
On Aug. 28, when a memorial in his honor is
dedicated on the National Mall in Washington, Franklin will again sing the song
for her mentor and friend.
"I'm really looking forward to this moment.
It's going to be another great, great moment in American history, and in
African-American history," Franklin said in a phone interview Tuesday.
"It means as well, after so many years of
traveling with him in the early '60s at the advent of the civil rights
movement, that again, many years later, I would perform in his honor and in
tribute to him, and I'm really looking forward to that moment and singing one
of his favorite songs, his most requested song by me," she said.
Franklin, 69, was one of the early supporters of
the campaign to honor the civil rights hero with a statue in the nation's
capital. She even headlined an all-star concert at Radio City Music Hall in New
York City in 2007 to raise funds for the memorial, which has been years in the
making.
"I just think that it is a nod to how far we
have come, and what a tremendous spot for him to be him, between the Lincoln
Memorial and the Jefferson Memorial on the mall. We've come a long way,"
she said. "I think it's tremendous."
President Barack Obama, Stevie Wonder, Maya Angelou
and many more are expected to participate in the dedication ceremony.
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press.
(AP
Photo/Matt Rourke, file)
