you. [ applause ]. good afternoon, church. reverend sharpton, i want to thank you for all you do for so many. there are so many families here who have been personally touched by your leadership and your strength and your fellowship. reverend dr. lawrence turner, thank you for welcoming us. keisha lance bottom, mitch landrieu, we are here on behalf of the people of our country and our president joe biden, and we are here to celebrate the life of tyre nichols. mrs. wells, mr. wells, you have been extraordinary in terms of your strength, your courage, and your grace.
understood their times and what to do about them. the set man for this hour at this time is a man who understands his time, and what to do about them. there is no need, really, for an introduction, and i would share a personal story that when i was pastoring my first church as a young pastor, reverend sharpton invited me into the family of the national action network, allowed me to serve on his board, and give me a front row to his work in leading the civil rights movement. i want to say this without any fear of contradiction. he is the hardest working civil rights leader of our time, come on. come on.
justice for tyre! justice for tyre! the privilege al sharpton has given me, i represent the church of god and christ. thank you for coming to mason temple. our presiding bishop is in to detroit, but the bishop from houston came here is going to read a statement from he and his wife, lady karen clark. hear this statement, and we ve only had 45 seconds of peace. amen. blessings to you. god bless you. i love you. and i heard a voice from heaven saying unto me write, blessed are the dead which died in the lord. ye, said the spirit, that they may rest from their labors, and their works. i, along with my wife, karen
here comes that dream they said to each other, come now, let s kill him, and throw him into one of the cisterns and say that a ferocious animal has devoured him. may god add a blessing to the reading of his word. early this morning before dawn i did what i often do when i come to memphis, i went out to the lorraine motel. as a youngster, i joined sclc, operation breadbasket. i had been a boy preacher in the church of god and christ, and my mother was concerned when i was
moses, not getting to the promised land, but seeing the promised land. and knowing that his people were going to get to the promised land. what was so remarkable about him talking about how longevity had a place and he would hope for longevity, saying it the night before he was assassinated. as you said, he almost didn t give this speech. it was raining outside. it was miserable. talk about the lead up to what you consider, and i think what most of us consider one of the great speeches in american history. as you say it was storming in memphis, and he wasn t all that excited about going to the