In The Life Work of Jesse Jackson, Michael K. Smith writes, “His Rainbow Coalition spanned the whole of society: farmers, white unionists, feminists, Hispanics, students, environmentalists, and a full 95% of black people…. He called for a freeze on nuclear weapons, large cuts in Pentagon spending, withdrawal of U.S. troops from Europe, the elimination of first-strike MX, Cruise, and Trident D-5 missiles, as well as the canceling of Reagan’s first-strike enabling Star Wars delusion. Alone among [Presidential] candidates, he held that Palestinians were a people deserving of national rights and a homeland.”

In his preface to a stunning collection of black and white photographs, photos from the edge 27 – JESSE JACKSON, PRESENTE!, labor photographer David Bacon writes, “He didn’t come just for labor, of course.  He came for the students, battling the University of California to keep affirmative action.  He walked with the women at the head of the National March to Fight the Radical Right.  And amidst it all, I sometimes found a man lost in his thoughts, perhaps grateful for a moment out of the crowd. You were there for us, Jesse.”

From an international perspective, in As War Tensions Rise, Jackson’s Call for Peace and Justice Endures, Dr. Ghassan Shahrour writes, “Rev. Jesse Jackson, who passed away on February 17, 2026, leaves behind a legacy that extends far beyond the civil-rights milestones that first defined his public life…. Equally defining, though less widely acknowledged, was Jackson’s unwavering commitment to peace and disarmament. From the 1980s onward, he emerged as one of the most consistent American voices urging an end to the nuclear arms race. He warned that humanity could not survive a world governed by fear, militarization, and the unchecked spread of weapons…. Jackson’s voice reminds us that human security begins with justice, not armament…. As we reflect on his passing, one truth stands out: the most faithful tribute to his legacy is to resist the normalization of war and the quiet expansion of armament, and to defend justice wherever it is threatened.”

As Bishop William J. Barber II writes in  Jesse Jackson: Prophet of America’s Possibility, “Jesse showed us how moral leadership can rally a fusion coalition that isn’t possible when we do politics as usual…. Jesse’s mantra was “Keep hope alive,” but he knew hope was not just wishful thinking. Real hope isn’t passive. It comes from deep faith and moral commitment, when people can no longer accept the way things are and set out to change them. That’s when hope is born, nurtured, and grown. And that’s where Jesse chose to be his whole life long.” Barber concludes,

“May we all take up his hope for the America that has never yet been but nevertheless must be.”

Jesse Jackson presente!

The post “A Mighty Lion has Fallen” appeared first on United For Peace and Justice.

In his prophetic speech, “Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence,” delivered on April 4, 1967, exactly one year before his tragic and untimely assassination, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. declared: “I am convinced that if we are to get on the right side of the world revolution, we as a nation must undergo a radical revolution of values…. we must rapidly begin the shift from a thing-oriented society to a person-oriented society. When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights, are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, extreme materialism, and militarism are incapable of being conquered.”

The Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival has picked up Dr. King’s unfinished work weaving the interlocking injustices of systemic racism, systemic poverty, environmental devastation, militarism and the war economy and a distorted moral narrative of Christian nationalism that blames poor people for their own poverty, into one “moral fusion” campaign.

Groups in Oakland, CA have been doing public participatory readings annually, since 2003. This year, standing in the bright sun at the amphitheater in front of Oakland City Hall, a group of activists, including members of the Bay Area Poor Peoples Campaign, gathered once again to read “Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence.” As one of the organizers said: “We have now been doing these annual readings in Oakland under five U.S. administrations! And each year something new stands out that is directly relevant to the moment we’re in. This year was no different. Dr. King truly was a prophet who continues to teach and inspire us 57 years later.”

In Los Angeles, CA, twenty people gathered at Alexandria House to read Dr. King’s speech. Although most in attendance were not familiar with the history of the Vietnam war, the present-day resonance was clear to all. Several people were so moved by his words that they broke down and cried. One of the readers put it this way: “The beauty and power of the words of Dr. King, along with the harmony of the voices reading, was a gift to my spirit. So grateful to have been present.”

A statewide online reading, organized by the California Poor People’s Campaign took place on April 9.

This was the fourth year that North Carolina Poor People’s Campaign folks did online readings of the speech. Nearly 50 people volunteered to participate in the readings. There were readers from the mountains to the coast and every area in the state was represented. Over 100 people joined Zoom to hear the reading of the speech. Watch the recording here.

United for Peace & Justice is proud to be a mobilizing partner with the Poor People’s Campaign. We have prepared a tool kit, updated annually, with everything you need to organize a reading in your community. Consider organizing a reading for next April 4 (or sooner; you don’t have to wait!)

The post MLK’s “Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence” – Now More Than Ever appeared first on United For Peace and Justice.

UFPJ encourages groups around the country to organize public participatory readings of the speech this April 4 to keep building momentum for the Poor People’s Campaign. We have prepared a toolkit which provides everything you need to organize your own reading – in English or in Spanish. You can organize a reading in person or online.

In these wildly disturbing and dangerous Trumpian times, Dr. King’s words are as timely as ever.

When Dr. King gave this speech, the United States was embroiled in the Vietnam War. The country was in turmoil as peace activists resisted the draft, and anti-war and civil rights protesters took to the streets. King’s speech laid bare the relationship between U.S. wars abroad and the racism and poverty being challenged by the civil rights movement at home. And it was controversial in some parts of the civil rights movement.

In this powerful speech Dr King provides both a diagnosis and a cure that remain fully relevant today. “I am convinced that if we are to get on the right side of the world revolution, we as a nation must undergo a radical revolution of values…. we must rapidly begin the shift from a thing-oriented society to a person-oriented society. When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights, are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, extreme materialism, and militarism are incapable of being conquered.”

The Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival has picked up Dr. King’s unfinished work weaving the interlocking injustices of systemic racism, systemic poverty, environmental devastation, militarism and the war economy and a distorted moral narrative of Christian nationalism that blames people for their own poverty and claims there’s “not enough,” into one “moral fusion” campaign. Click here to find and Join your state’s Poor People’s Campaign committee.

Listen to an audio recording of Dr. King delivering “Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence” on April 4, 1967.

United for Peace & Justice is proud to be a national mobilizing partner with the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival. Please let us know if you’re organizing a reading this year by contacting our National Organizer, George Friday at info.ufpj(at)gmail.com.

The post This April 4: Organize a Public Reading of Dr. King’s “Beyond Vietnam: Speech in Your Community appeared first on United For Peace and Justice.

UFPJ encourages groups around the country to organize public participatory readings of the speech this April 4 to build momentum for the Poor People’s Campaign Third Reconstruction Agenda to Heal the Nation: End Poverty and Low Wages From the Bottom Up. We have prepared a toolkit which provides everything you need to organize your own reading – in English or in Spanish. You can organize a reading in person or online.

Please let us know if you’re planning a reading!

When Dr. King gave this speech, the United States was embroiled in the Vietnam War. The country was in turmoil as peace activists resisted the draft, and anti-war and civil rights protesters took to the streets. King’s speech laid bare the relationship between U.S. wars abroad and the racism and poverty being challenged by the civil rights movement at home. And it was controversial in some parts of the civil rights movement.

In this powerful speech Dr, King provides both a diagnosis and a cure that remain fully relevant today. “I am convinced that if we are to get on the right side of the world revolution, we as a nation must undergo a radical revolution of values…. we must rapidly begin the shift from a thing-oriented society to a person-oriented society. When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights, are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, extreme materialism, and militarism are incapable of being conquered.”

The Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival has picked up Dr. King’s unfinished work weaving the interlocking injustices of systemic racism, systemic poverty, environmental devastation, militarism and the war economy and a distorted moral narrative of Christian nationalism, into one “moral fusion” campaign.

Listen to an audio recording of Dr. King delivering “Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence” on April 4, 1967.

United for Peace & Justice is proud to be a national mobilizing partner with the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival.

The post This April 4: Organize a Public Reading of Dr. King’s “Beyond Vietnam: Speech in Your Community appeared first on United For Peace and Justice.

United for Peace & Justice invites you to join us for a special webinar: “End Racism. Build Peace”

 Wednesday, September 21, the UN International Day of Peace

Each year the International Day of Peace is observed around the world on September 21. The United Nations General Assembly has declared this as a day devoted to strengthening the ideals of peace, through observing 24 hours of non-violence and cease-fire. But achieving true peace entails much more than laying down arms. It requires the building of societies where all members feel that they can flourish. It involves creating a world in which people are treated equally, regardless of their race.

The 2022 theme for the International Day of Peace is “End racism. Build peace.”  To mark this day, United for Peace & Justice hosted a webinar on Wed. Sept. 21, at 8 pm EDT/5 pm PDT.

 Our distinguished speakers include:

Vernita Pearl Fort, a former United States diplomat, an Evolutionary Systems Ecologist, Political Economist, and Democracy Research Scholar at the University of Illinois Global Institute, Urbana-Champaign. Vernita also serves on the Board of the Center for United Nations Constitutional Research. The title of her current work and manuscript-in-progress is: “The Africana World and Regenerative Global Democracy: Transforming the United Nations and the International Order through the Arts of Transitional Justice.”

 Dr. Vincent Intondi, author of “African Americans Against the Bomb: Nuclear Weapons, Colonialism, and the Black Freedom Movement,” is a leading authority on the intersection of race and nuclear weapons. Dr. Intondi is a professor at Montgomery College (MC) in Takoma Park, Maryland, where he teaches U.S. and African American history and directs MC’s Institute for Race, Justice, and Civic Engagement.

George Friday, UFPJ’s National Organizer, grew up in a rural low-income community in North Carolina in the 1960s. She holds degrees in Political Science, Economics and African American Studies from the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. George is a Board member of Peace Action and a co-founder of the Black Liberation Caucus of WILPF. She serves on the North Carolina and National Coordinating Committees of the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival.

About the image, above:

In order to further promote peace education in member cities around the world, Mayors for Peace hosts an annual children’s art competition inviting children from 6 to 15 years old who live in Mayors for Peace member cities to submit artworks on the theme of “Peaceful Towns.”

 The Mayors for Peace 2021 President’s Award 1^st place article was Honoka Yamada of Hiroshima, Japan (14 years old). Here’s her message:

“My home town of Hiroshima wishes for a peaceful world without nuclear weapons. We fold paper cranes with a prayer for peace. Regardless of different nationalities, skin color, culture and religion, our wishes for peace are borderless and connected by a rainbow bridge. This painting depicts people from various backgrounds holding hands and sharing paper cranes. Children from around the world cross over a rainbow on the back of paper cranes. With a wish for a world in which children can walk into a bright future in their “peaceful towns,” I designed the picture with a motif of glittering stained glass.”

The post September 21 UN International Day of Peace: “End Racism. Build Peace” appeared first on United For Peace and Justice.

June 18 was a glorious, mild, sunny day, as we joined tens of thousands of people from all walks of life and dozens of states around the country in a display of “moral fusion” solidarity, raising up the interlocking injustices of systemic poverty, systemic racism, environmental devastation, militarism and the war economy, and the distorted moral narrative of religious nationalism.

The day was centered on the 140 million people American people directly impacted by poverty, whose compelling testimonies comprised the majority of the program, hosted by Rev. William J. Barber II, and Rev. Liz Theoharis, Co-chairs of the Poor People’s Campaign, a National Call for Moral Revival. During the day we heard from black, brown, Indigenous, white, trans, queer, women, and men from every corner of the nation who are poor or one paycheck away from financial collapse, in the richest country in history. We heard about the often heartbreaking impacts of the interlocking injustices from mothers, veterans, miners, teachers, fast food workers and undocumented immigrants, who had come together, with their allies in labor unions, faith denominations, racial justice, human rights, environmental and anti-war groups to speak with one voice for voting rights, health care, an end to poverty and racism, immigrant rights, gender equity, and an end to endless wars – in short, the “revolution of values” called for by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. more than 50 years ago.

As Rev. Bernice King told the crowd, “Fifty-four years ago, my father, the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., launched the first Poor People’s Campaign to revolutionize the country. Decades later, ridding the nation of the evil and violence of poverty remains a moral imperative.”

“The military budget is immoral,” Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II declared, “This is why we need a third Reconstruction.” He explained that this will build on the first Reconstruction, the period after the Civil War, and the second Reconstruction, the period during the modern civil rights movement, led by Dr. King.

“We are a fusion coalition,” he said, “and we will continue our work until sick folks are healed, until affordable housing is provided, until the land and water are protected, and until saving the world is more important than blowing it up. . . . This promise is not negotiable. We won’t be silent or unseen any longer.” Read more.

Music is an important component of the Poor People’s Campaign, and the rousing musical interludes, flavored heavily by the gospel tradition, did not disappoint. There was also a new anti-war song launched for the first time.

The night before the Mass Assembly, we attended a solemn memorial service at the Lincoln Memorial, organized by the Poor People’s Campaign to remember the one million people who have died from COVID-19 and the innumerable victims of war and gun violence. Following the memorial service, we walked to the MLK Memorial, where CODEPINK organized a visually stunning “peace illumination” (see photo).

UFPJ also took part in other activities organized by the anti-militarism contingent convened by CODEPINK. On Saturday we joined a feeder march down Pennsylvania Ave. from Freedom Plaza to the Mass Assembly at 3^rd Street. On Saturday evening we attended a wonderful concert featuring world music at Malcom X Park, and on Sunday morning we participated in a peace workshop with about 60 people in attendance. Everyone was so happy to be together in person for the first time in over two years. We also visited a spirited Juneteenth celebration at Black Lives Matter Plaza in front of the White House, organized by Dia De Los Muertos.

Where do we go from here?

During the Mass Assembly, Rev. Barber and Rev. Theoharis announced a new plan: 7 Steps Before the Midterms: A Movement Declaration to Reconstruct American Democracy. Read it here.

The June 12 Mass Poor People’s and Low-Wage Workers Assembly and March on Washington and to the Polls was a major step for moral fusion organizing. Even the Washington Post acknowledged, “Instead of being presented as a grab-bag of competing progressive causes, Saturday’s event bridged different agendas and platforms with a universal call for reform and change of the political status quo.”

Our task now, as the fragments of the peace movement, is to build upon and deepen our understanding of “moral fusion” organizing in order to effectively contribute to the broad, deep, values-based, multi-issue movement we’ll need to build power and create systemic change – including ending militarism and wars — from the bottom up. Watch for more on this from UFPJ.

In the meantime

 If you weren’t able to be in DC on June 18 or to watch the livestream, watch the recording, in English or in Spanish, here.

Read 7 Steps Before the Midterms: A Movement Declaration to Reconstruct American Democracy.

Read the Poor People’s Campaign Third Reconstruction Agenda to Heal the Nation: End Poverty and Low Wages From the Bottom Up (Rev. Barber is the co-author of The Third Reconstruction, How a Moral Movement is Overcoming the Politics of Division and Fear.)

Find and get involved in your State Poor People’s Campaign here.

United for Peace & Justice is a proud mobilizing partner with the Poor People’s Campaign. If you were in DC on June 18 or watched the livestream, please share your impressions and thoughts with us by writing to info.ufpj@gmail.com

Forward together, Not one step back!

 The UFPJ Coordinating Committee

The post June 18, 2022: UFPJ Joins the Poor People’s Campaign Mass Poor People’s and Low Wage Workers Assembly and March on Washington – A Declaration, Not Just a Demonstration! appeared first on United For Peace and Justice.

 Please register to join us in DC! Once you register, you’ll start receiving the Digital Drum beat, inspiring weekly messages from Poor People’s Campaign Co-chairs Bishop William J. Barber II and Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis, about how you can keep up the enthusiasm about the programs happening on June 18th in Washington, D.C. for your community. 

UFPJ is proud to be a mobilizing partner with the Poor People’s Campaign. We encourage you to work with your organization to also join as a mobilizing partner. Sign up here.

Find a ride on a bus near you! Through the Poor People’s Campaign partnership with Rally Co., there are buses leaving across the country to get to the Mass Poor People and Low Wage Workers’ Assembly and Moral March on Washington and to the Polls. Check it out to see which one is closest to you. Click here for FAQ.

Want to do more? Sign up to be a mobilizing captain! There is still time to bring your friends, family, and community with you to Washington, D.C. As a mobilization captain, you will receive active updates on the latest news happening on June 18th. Sign up here. There will be a Rally Co. bus training on Tuesday, March 31 at 7:30 pm ET. Register here.  

Read the Organizer’s Manual here.

Spread the word by using the Digital Toolkit and the weekly Digital Drumbeat email.

Volunteers are needed in DC. Sign up here.

Go live with us on June 18 via Facebook and Twitter. 

Schedule 

June 17: On the evening of June 17, we will be holding a special community meal and memorial service to mourn the loss of 1 million+ lives to COVID-19 and to ground ourselves and prepare for the assembly and march the following morning.

• Meal at 5:00 pm ET at Freedom Plaza
• Memorial service at the Lincoln Memorial at 7:30 pm ET

June 18: To kick off the morning, there will be a Shabbat Service co-organized by Jewish partners and open to all who find such a space meaningful. 8:00 – 9:15 am ET at Freedom Plaza.

• Gathering time for the march and assembly will begin between 9:00 -10:00 am ET at 3rd and Pennsylvania Ave, NW.
• Kick-off at 10:00 am ET

Mobilization Tour

 Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II, Co-Chair of the Poor People’s Campaign has declared: “Refusing to address the interlocking injustices and evils of systemic racism, poverty, ecological devastation & the denial of health care, militarism and the war economy, and the distorted moral narrative of religious nationalism is constitutionally inconsistent, morally indefensible, politically insensitive, and economically insane.”

In the build up to the June 18 Mass Assembly in Washington, DC, the Poor People’s Campaign made tour stops in Alabama (virtual), Texas (virtual), Ohio, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Washington, DC, New York, Pennsylvania, California, and Tennessee, to do M.O.R.E. – mobilizing, organizing, registering and educating people for a movement that votes. The final tour stop before DC took place in Memphis, Tennessee on May 23, at the exact location where Dr, Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated in 1968. The history of Memphis is crucial to this movement led by and for poor and low-income people. From the prolific sanitation strike in 1968, to the musical history of Beale Street, Memphis has the movement in its’ bones and the Poor Peoples’ Campaign is proud to be about of that history.

Watch this powerful 3-minute video to understand how the Poor People’s Campaign has picked up Dr. King’s unfinished business, weaving together the interlocking injustices of systemic poverty, racism, environmental devastation, militarism and the war economy and the distorted moral narrative of Christian nationalism into one “moral fusion” campaign.

This is our time; this is our movement! Join us on June 18 to go forward together, not one step back!!

The post Let’s Bend the Arc of Justice on June18! appeared first on United For Peace and Justice.

On and around April 4, groups around the country honored Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s full legacy by organizing public participatory readings of his seminar speech, “Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence,” delivered on April 4, 1967, at the Riverside Church in New York, exactly one year before his tragic assassination. In the speech, Dr. King declared: “A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death.” He went on to name the United States Government as the greatest purveyor of violence in the world and to preach that nonviolent direct action is our greatest hope and best tool to bring about the changes we seek.

United for Peace & Justice (UFPJ) has for a number of years made available an annually updated “tool kit” to help groups organize public readings in their communities. This year, for the first time, we provided a Spanish language version of the text, divided into 16 sections, along with an updated introduction which addresses the current war in Ukraine.

This year’s public readings of “Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence” were part of the Poor People’s Campaign’s mobilization toward the June 18, 2022, Mass Poor People’s & Low-Wage Workers’ Assembly and Moral March on Washington and to the Polls.

UFPJ is proud to be a national mobilizing partner in the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival. On April 3, UFPJ member groups did a virtual participatory reading and discussed plans for June 18. Click here to watch the recording, with a special greeting to UFPJ from Dr. Liz Theoharis, Co-chair of the Poor People’s Campaign.

The California Poor People’s Campaign planned, coordinated, and implemented more than 25 in-person and virtual public participatory readings throughout California, in Oakland, Santa Barbara, Dublin, Nevada City, Oceanside, Los Angeles, Santa Maria, Sacramento, Cypress, San Diego, San Francisco, Chico, Berkeley, San Jose, Claremont, High Desert and Beverly Hills, resulting in some excellent local media coverage. Click here for an excellent story about the Oakland and Sacramento readings.

One of the public readings was in Spanish and two featured hybrid versions in English, Spanish, and ASL. The readings featured Poor People’s Campaign members and supporters, impacted community members, college students, mothers, fathers, grandparents, educators, artists, poets, writers, and local community activists.

Two of the participants in the Santa Maria reading summed up the feelings of readers around the state: “What a great undertaking this was to bring so much diversity together,” and “It was a powerful and transforming experience of community togetherness.”

Other readings (that we know of) took place in Pennsylvania and North Carolina. We’re sure there were many more. Please let us know if your group organized a reading!

When Dr. King gave this speech, the United States was embroiled in the Vietnam War. The country was in turmoil as peace activists resisted the draft, and anti-war and civil rights protesters took to the streets. King’s speech laid bare the relationship between U.S. wars abroad and the racism and poverty being challenged by the civil rights movement at home. And it was controversial in some parts of the civil rights movement.

In his powerful speech Dr, King provided both a diagnosis and a cure that remains fully relevant today. “I am convinced that if we are to get on the right side of the world revolution, we as a nation must undergo a radical revolution of values…. we must rapidly begin the shift from a thing-oriented society to a person-oriented society. When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights, are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, extreme materialism, and militarism are incapable of being conquered.”

 The Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival has picked up Dr. King’s unfinished work weaving the interlocking injustices of systemic racism, systemic poverty, environmental devastation, militarism and the war economy and a distorted moral narrative of Christian nationalism, into one “moral fusion” campaign.

 All Roads Lead to Washington, DC. June 18, 2022

 The Poor People’s Campaign has launched a national Mobilization Tour leading to June 18, 2022 Mass Poor People’s & Low-Wage Workers’ Assembly and Moral March on Washington and to the Polls, a generationally transformative and disruptive gathering of poor and low wealth people, state leaders, faith communities, moral allies, unions and partnering organizations.

We think that June 18, 2022, offers an important opportunity for the peace movement to regroup in this broader context – and we urge everyone to get involved! In these incredibly dangerous and challenging times, the Poor People’s Campaign is building power for an agenda that lifts all people. When you lift from the bottom, everybody rises!

Please Join Poor People’s Campaign Co-chair Rev. Liz Theoharis and Noam Sandweiss-Back, Poor People’s Campaign Director of Partnerships, on Wed. May 4 at 5 pm PT/8 pm ET for a UFPJ briefing, to be inspired and learn about “moral fusion” organizing and how you can participate in June 18. Register here!

 Here are some additional useful links:

 June 18 overview video (4 minutes): RSVP NOW: Mass Poor People’s & Low-Wage Workers’ Assembly & Moral March on Washington & To the Polls – YouTube

 RSVP for June 18 (for individuals): Poor People’s and Low-Wage Workers’ Assembly and Moral March on Washington and to the Polls in 2022 – Poor People’s Campaign (poorpeoplescampaign.org)

 For Organizations: Become a Mobilizing Partner for June 18, 2022 – Poor People’s Campaign (poorpeoplescampaign.org)

 Get on the Bus to DC: Mass Poor People’s and Low-Wage Workers’ Assembly and Moral March on Washington and to the Polls Rally – Bus to National Mall in Washington, DC

 June 18 Organizer’s Guide: Organizer’s Guide 3 (poorpeoplescampaign.org)

The post Acting on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Full Legacy; All Roads Lead to June 18, Washington, DC! appeared first on United For Peace and Justice.

When Dr. King gave this speech, the United States was embroiled in the Vietnam War. The country was in turmoil as peace activists resisted the draft, and anti-war and civil rights protesters took to the streets. King’s speech laid bare the relationship between U.S. wars abroad and the racism and poverty being challenged by the civil rights movement at home. And it was controversial in some parts of the civil rights movement.

In this powerful speech Dr, King provides both a diagnosis and a cure that remains fully relevant today. “I am convinced that if we are to get on the right side of the world revolution, we as a nation must undergo a radical revolution of values…. we must rapidly begin the shift from a thing-oriented society to a person-oriented society. When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights, are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, extreme materialism, and militarism are incapable of being conquered.”

The Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival has picked up Dr. King’s unfinished work weaving the interlocking injustices of systemic racism, systemic poverty, environmental devastation, militarism and the war economy and a distorted moral narrative of Christian nationalism, into one “moral fusion” campaign.

UFPJ encourages groups around the country to organize public participatory readings of the speech this April 4 as part of the Poor People’s Campaign Mobilization for the June 18 Mass Poor People’s & Low-Wage Workers’ Assembly and Moral March on Washington.

We have prepared a toolkit which provides everything you need to organize your own reading. You can organize a reading in person or online. Let us know if you’re planning a reading!

Listen to an audio recording of Dr. King delivering “Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence” on April 4, 1967.

Heads up, member groups! UFPJ will be inviting member groups to participate in a virtual reading of “Beyond Vietnam” on April 4 and launching a Poor People’s Campaign working group. You’ll be hearing more from us soon.

The post This April 4: Organize a Public Reading of Dr. King’s “Beyond Vietnam: Speech in Your Community appeared first on United For Peace and Justice.

Exactly one year before his tragic assassination two months later, King stated: “I am convinced that if we are to get on the right side of the world revolution, we as a nation must undergo a radical revolution of values…. we must rapidly begin the shift from a thing-oriented society to a person-oriented society. When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights, are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, extreme materialism, and militarism are incapable of being conquered.”

The Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival, has picked up Dr. King’s unfinished work, weaving the interlocking injustices of systemic racism, systemic poverty, environmental devastation, militarism and the war economy and a distorted moral narrative of religious nationalism, into one “moral fusion” campaign. The Poor Peoples Campaign Jubilee Platform calls for cutting U.S, military spending by half including by closing 60% of U.S. foreign military bases, ending the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Yemen, and elsewhere, and dismantling and eliminating nuclear weapons.

It is increasingly clear that the multiple national and global crises we are confronting, including nuclear weapons, climate change, systemic racism, a growing wealth gap and rising national authoritarianisms arise from the same foundational causes, and that we are unlikely to prevail on any of them as single issues. We need to come together as never before to build political power through durable, diverse, multi-issue coalitions, networks, and networks of networks based on our shared commitments to universal, indivisible human security.

United for Peace & Justice is proud to be a national organizing partner in the Poor People’s Campaign. With active committees in 45 states, and support from an extraordinary range of constituencies including labor unions, faith organizations, racial justice, anti-poverty, environmental and peace groups, the Poor People’s Campaign is building towards a generationally transformative Mass Poor People’s & Low-Wage Worker’s Assembly & Moral March on Washington and to the Polls, June 18, 2022. Get involved. Join your state committee. Find a bus coming to Washington D.C. from your state on June 18!

In the runup to June 18, we are working with the Poor People’s Campaign to organize public participatory readings around the country of Dr, King’s seminal speech, Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence, on April 4, the 54^th anniversary of his tragic assassination in 1968. Click here for a downloadable “tool kit” to help you organize a public reading in your community.

The post The Poor People’s Campaign: Picking up Martin Luther King’s Unfinished Work appeared first on United For Peace and Justice.