On Tuesday, nearly the entire day was focused on civil rights, starting with a Morning Prayer service with readings by Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Mahatma Gandhi. Susan B. Anthony, Nelson Mandela, and Martin Luther King Jr.

Hymns included spirituals such as “No harm have I done you on my knees”; “Didn’t my Lord deliver Daniel”; “Come by here (Kumbaya)”; and “Lift every voice and sing,” often referred to as the “Black National Anthem.”

I was very impressed in hearing Dr. Carl Haywood, an African-American organist, play these hymns, and was particularly interested in his style and tempos of traditional spirituals. For example, “Kumbaya” was played with great emotion, and at a rather slow tempo while “Lift every voice and sing” was quite fast with a brisk tempo. On “Kumbaya,” he even started on the organ and ended on the piano! And the postlude was a fantastic improvisation on “We Shall Overcome.”

Following the service was an interesting panel discussion on civil and human rights with The Rev. Ed Bacon, an Episcopal priest; Dr. Joyce Finch Johnson, organist of Spelman College and the annual Martin Luther King Jr. commemorative service at Ebenezer Baptist Church; the Rev. Natosha Reid Rice, straregist, attorney and former associate pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church; Bryan L. Sells, civil rights attorney; and the Right Rev. Robert Wright, bishop of Atlanta. What a stellar group of people with a lot of history in this area.

In the afternoon we had the choice of going to National Center for Civil and Human Rights; the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library, or the Martin Luther King Center National Historic Site. I chose the latter, which included a visit to the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church which is where Senator Raphael Warnock is the current pastor. King and his wife, Coretta Scott King are entombed in a large reflecting pool.

Did you know that Martin Luther King Jr.’s mother, Alberta, was an organist and was assassinated while playing “The Lord’s Prayer” during the service? It was on June 30, 1974, only six years after MLK was shot. The tragic event unfolded at Ebenezer Baptist Church where she was a revered fixture serving as the longtime organist, choir director, and community leader. A 23–year-old gunman named Marcus Wayne Chenault yelled that he was taking over and fired handguns at her.

We had an Italian dinner at Agnes Scott College, whose name I have known for years through organist Calvert Johnson, who retired after being a professor there. I believe Cal was Bill Potter’s roommate in college.

In the evening we drove to Glenn Memorial United Methodist Church to hear an outstanding concert by the Atlantic Master Chorale, conducted by Eric Nelson, with Jon Easter at the organ and piano. They presented a varied program including Herbert Howells, Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, Brahms, plus contemporary composers. Dr. Nelson revealed that he had undergone radiation and chemotherapy for leukemia and apparently and thankfully has survived.

Here is a YouTube video of their performance of Tommy Dorsey’s “Precious Lord,” (arranged by Arnold Sevier, b. 1949) which was sung at the concert.