Nearly two weeks ago, on December 29, I was in the middle of the Twelve Days of Christmas posts and so didn't get around to posting this, but if you haven't seen it it's definitely worth watching. On that night, the 2015 Kennedy Center Honors ceremony was broadcast (the event itself was on December 6). Five worthy honorees in different artistic categories were celebrated for their contributions to the arts in the United States.
The day after, most of the buzz was about Aretha Franklin's performance in honor of songwriter Carole King, but for our purposes, CeCe Winans' rendition of Blessed assurance for Cicely Tyson was the one to savor. Presenter Kerry Washington explains the reason for this particular tribute, in which Winans is joined by students from the Cicely Tyson School of Performing and Fine Arts in East Orange, New Jersey.
I think Fanny Crosby and Phoebe Knapp would be quite honored as well to know that their song is still known and loved more than a century later, and has spread its message to more people around the world than they could have imagined.
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