Remembering MLK Jr and James Brown This Weekend

The 40th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr's assassination is today, April 4. A good deal of programming will air over the next few days in honor of Dr. King's legacy and the effect that his untimely death had on our country.

One such show, "The Night James Brown Saved Boston," airing on VH1, is about James Brown's televised concert in Boston the night after MLK Jr. passed away in April 1968. The event, and James himself, were largely responsible for keeping the city relatively peaceful. While Boston listened to the godfather of soul, many American cities were literally going up in flames as people reacted to the assassination. Read more about the program on VH1.com and listen to an interview with the show's director on NPR. It airs at 9PM Eastern Time on Saturday.

Here's a clip of the concert where James tells the crowd, and the police, to calm down as tension starts to build.