Maya Angelou began and ended her tribute to Coretta Scott King with a
quote from the spiritual song "I Open My Mouth."
"MAYA ANGELOU: [singing] I open my mouth to the Lord, and I won't turn
back no. I will go. I shall go. I'll see what the end is going to be.
[speaking] In the midst of national tumult, in the medium of
international violent uproar, Coretta Scott King's face remained a
study in serenity.
. . .
I pledge to you, my sister, I will never cease. I mean to say, I want
to see a better world. I mean to say, I want to see some peace
somewhere. I mean to say, I want to see some honesty, some fair play.
I want to see kindness and justice. This is what I want to see. I want
to see it through my eyes and through your eyes, Coretta Scott King.
[singing] I open my mouth to the Lord, and I won't turn back. No I
will go. I shall go. I'll see what the end is going to be. Thank you."
Democracy Now: Last Tributes to Coretta Scott King
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/02/08/1516213
In case you're interested, here are more lyrics:
"I Open My Mouth (I Won?t Turn Back)
Done made my vow to the Lord
O, Lord, I?ll never turn back.
I will go! I shall go to see what the end will be.
I open my mouth to the Lord,
And I won?t turn back.
I will go! I shall go to see what the end is gonna be.
If you don?t believe that I?ve been redeemed,
Just follow me down to Jordan?s stream.
I open my mouth to the Lord,
And I won?t turn back.
I will go! I shall go to see what the end is gonna be."
Wednesdays at Eight: Let Me Fly! Songs of Spirit
http://users.usinternet.com/mmuller/wednesdays_at_8/docs/Concert3Program.pdf
My search strategy: I had bookmarked the "Democracy Now" page several
days ago because I found the services to be very moving, and wanted to
keep a transcript. Once I had the name of the song that was quoted by
Dr. Angelou, I used this Google search string to find additional
lyrics:
Google Web Search: "i open my mouth to the lord"
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=%22i+open+my+mouth+to+the+lord%22
I hope this is precisely what you need. If anything is unclear or
incomplete, or if a link doesn't work for you, please request
clarification; I'll gladly offer further assistance before you rate my
answer.
Best regards,
pinkfreud |