MLK - WAR & MILITARISM

Veterans For Peace Chapter 93 Martin Luther King Day Talks

In some respects, the legacy of Martin Luther King Day has become that of “safe” and non-controversial events and speeches. Rarely these days is anything ever said about Dr. King’s thoughts and teaching on how “the giant triplets” threatening the human race include not only racism and poverty, but also militarism and how these triplets are all interrelated. As often seen in wars, the "other side" is labeled "not like us" (racism) and countries boost military spending yet cut social programs (poverty).

In 1967, when Dr. King gave his famous speech, “Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence,” he observed how unpopular speaking against militarism was. He said that people asked him, “Why are you speaking about the war, Dr. King? Why are you joining the voices of dissent? Peace and civil rights don't mix....” How true his observation remains today, in that to speak out against military solutions is once again called unpatriotic and “not supporting our brave troops.”

For the past few years, Veterans For Peace (VFP) Chapter 93 has given talks on Martin Luther King Day on the theme of militarism. Below you will find additional readings, speeches and other documentation of items discussed at the VFP talks. In addition, a link to a video of the complete VFP Chapter 93 MLK talk given at the Westgate Branch of the Ann Arbor District Library on January 21, 2019 can be found at https://aadl.org/aadl_events_20190121-vets_for_peace

Martin Luther King Talk References On Militarism

The best way to learn more about Dr. Kings teachings on war and militarism are by reading his various speeches, including...

"The Casualties of the War in Vietnam," February 25, 1967 - http://www.aavw.org/special_features/speeches_speech_king02.html

"It's A Dark Day In Our Nation," April 30, 1967 - http://waketheherd.blogspot.com/2011/06/speech-that-killed-dr-martin-luther.html

"Beyond Vietnam--A Time to Break Silence," April 4, 1967:

http://mlk-kpp01.stanford.edu/index.php/encyclopedia/documentsentry/doc_beyond_vietnam

Audio version of "Beyond Vietnam":

http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkatimetobreaksilence.htm

Negative reaction to the "Beyond Vietnam" speech: Time magazine called the speech "demagogic slander that sounded like a script for Radio Hanoi," and the Washington Post declared that King had "diminished his usefulness to his cause, his country, his people.". For more on the negative reaction here is a link to a National Public Radio story on this subject... http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=125355148