Today is the day the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gave his amazing “Mountaintop” speech, 40 years ago, at the Mason Temple in South Memphis. And unless you’ve been living under a rock, surely you know that tomorrow will mark 40 years since King was assassinated in Memphis. (I agree with a comment I read recently: Let’s not call this an anniversary, which connotes celebration.)

As it was 40 years ago, today is a rainy day; those who were there that night at the temple talk about thunder, lightning, rain, wind. But, of course, many things are different, too. I was glad to hear Billy Kyles on Morning Edition this morning debunk the notion that things are just as bad as they were back then. People who say that, he said, weren’t there back then. Though, of course, the work King and Kyles were doing still goes on.

Still, it’s worth remembering — or learning, if you’re too young to remember — what was really going on in Memphis in 1968. And no one in town (so far) has done it quite as well as Memphis magazine, whose April issue contains a gem of a story from Memphian (and nationally famous writer) Hampton Sides about his experiences being a kid in 1968-69. After that, take time to read the recollections of those who were there. And, if you can stand it, read the timeline of events.

Then brace yourself for tomorrow, when the national spotlight turns on Memphis, to remember an event that changed the face of a nation.