To commemorate the 40th anniversary of the assassination of civil-rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., the TODAY show will broadcast live from Memphis, Tenn., on Friday, April 4.
The show plans a look back at King’s life and legacy, and his role in the current climate of race relations.
On Friday, TODAY will present a special split edition with Ann Curry co-anchoring live from the Lorraine Hotel in Memphis, which now is the National Civil Rights Museum, where King was assassinated forty years ago, and Meredith Vieira co-anchoring from Studio 1A in New York. Al Roker will also be reporting from Memphis.
Curry will take a look at the civil rights movement and where it stands today, 40 years after King’s assassination.
TODAY will also feature interviews with author Michael Eric Dyson, the King family’s children, Bishop Charles Blake and famed radio host Tom Joyner.
Additionally, the St. Andrew AME Church Choir will perform live from Memphis.
In addition to TODAY, “Nightly News with Brian Williams,” as well as MSNBC will cover the various events and organizations converging on Memphis to mark the anniversary.
MSNBC will have extensive coverage of the anniversary throughout the day and into primetime. Tom Brokaw will start off the day on “Morning Joe” live from Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta. “Nightly News with Brian Williams” will originate live from the National Civil Rights Museum.