Public Discourse Statement: MLK Revisited

Martin Luther King gave a speech on April 4th, 1967 - one year to the day before he died Media said it sounded like a Ho Chi Minh press release Forty five years ago Vietnam was the war of the day Defending America by bombing to oblivion a poor, weak country - 8,000 miles away MLK begins by giving a voice to the North Vietnamese, representing their point of view He talks about the need to understand the arguments of those we call enemy Up against full-time U.S. war propaganda & media bombardment - situation nothing new This is a man whose birthday is a national holiday; government employees get to stay home Most Americans dont know how passionately MLK attacked U.S. foreign policy If this is the first youve heard of it - youre certainly not alone School teaches his role in civil rights; Dr. King is revered like Lincoln, Gandhi, JFK If they taught in school he gave powerful speeches against destroying Vietnam I must have been home sick - or my textbook was missing that page MLK continues his speech by quoting a Vietnamese Buddhist leader Claiming each U.S. bomb a further guarantee of psychological and political defeat U.S. image shifting from freedom & democracy to violence & militarism No honorable intentions found in Vietnam, or Afghanistan - historical pattern of deceit MLK calls on the U.S. government to remove all troops He calls on Americans to get creative in finding ways to protest this illegal war He says if we truly want to change our nation - people need to put their lives on the line He got a national holiday for pulling it off one time before Where he goes next with his speech left me speechless; MLK once again ahead of his time When I first heard his words, the feeling in my gut - this may be why he shortly thereafter died MLK says Vietnam a symptom of bigger problems; U.S. exporting violence around the world He claims wars for protecting U.S. privilege, pleasure, and profits Preaching hard truths in the 1960s - easy way to orphan your little girls Dr. King then calls for a radical revolution of U.S. values Questioning policies prioritizing profit motives & property rights over people His words - A nation that continues year after year to spend more on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death Dr. King calling it how it is; beacon of light from the Riverside Church steeple Hard to believe, but sounds like an Occupy Movement speech - same shit were saying today A 1967 warning: if changes dont come soon, extreme materialism & militarism are here to stay MLK warns about income inequality in America & between developing nations and the West Calling for the pursuit of peace, not the pursuit of war - he actually uses the word love Promoting policies not produced by fear and greed but guided by the hearts beating in our chests His words: We are now faced with the fact, my friends, that tomorrow is today. We are confronted with the fierce urgency of now. There is such a thing as being too late Imagine being 25 years old then? Now youre 70 and U.S. foreign policy is exactly the same? I heard Newt Gingrich say the 2012 election was the most important of our lifetimes His spin produces fear for actually moving in the direction Martin Luther King suggests Republicans and Democrats arguing about moving inches to the right or inches to the left Occupy Movement carrying on MLKs legacy - guided by the hearts beating in our chests