In the years following the September 11 terrorist attacks, peace and justice groups in Oakland, California have organized a number of successful public readings of Dr. King’s “Beyond Vietnam” speech in front of our Federal Building.  We have involved local elected officials, community activists and students in the readings, which have often been preceded by press conferences linking the reading to issues of current concern.  The readers are instructed not to change Dr. King’s words or add any of their own.  Thus, local elected officials are compelled to hear Dr. King’s original words coming out of their own mouths.

Here’s a downloadable “kit” to help you organize a public reading in your community.

1. We have divided the speech into 16 sections, with an introduction.  We suggest that you print out the introduction and speech in an enlarged font and assemble several 3-ring binders including the full set of materials.
2. Invite local elected officials, community leaders, activist groups and high school students to participate in a public reading in front of your Federal Building, City Hall or other suitable location.  You may want to hold a press conference involving representatives of these constituencies in advance. You may need to secure a permit for a public assembly or sound system.
3. Set up a “podium” and some visuals.  The podium can be as simple as a music stand draped with a cloth, where you can support one of the open binders, and posters or banners depicting Dr. King and whatever messages you want to project.
4. Begin the reading by sounding a gong or bell, signifying a moment of silence, and have someone read the introduction.  You may wish to prepare a list of readers in advance, which you could post on butcher paper or a whiteboard. You should have an extra binder or two available so that readers can practice reading their sections in advance.
5. Provide your readers with a set of simple instructions so they will know that they should not make additional remarks. You may also wish to provide readers with badges identifying them as readers.
6. If there’s a lot of interest from prospective readers, you may wish to repeat the reading several times.  In Oakland we have done as many as three consecutive readings, ending with a symbolic ceremony at sundown.

Materials

• Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence, By Rev. Martin Luther King, 4 April 1967 (divided for reading)

• 2022 Introduction for California readings

• 2022 Introduction for readings outside California

• “Más allá de Vietnam: Un tiempo para romper el silencio” Por el Rev. Martin Luther King – Traducción al español de introducción (en 2 partes) y discurso (en 16 secciones)

• “Next Reader” dividers

• Guidelines for readers

• Badges for readers

• Readers list

• Short slide show from previous years’ readings in Oakland, CA

• “Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence,” April 4, 2022 flier (English)

• “Más allá de Vietnam: Un tiempo para romper el silencio,” 4 de abril de 2022 volante (Español)

• Zoom reading of “Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence” by members of the California Poor People’s Campaign, recorded March 22, 2022

   

  (prepared by Jackie Cabasso, Western States Legal Foundation: wslf@earthlink.net)

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UFPJ has assembled a set or Martin Luther King, Jr. resources for your use, including downloadable posters and a guide to organizing a public reading of Dr. King’s prophetic “Beyond Vietnam” speech. (If you do only one thing, be sure to read this incredible speech, delivered exactly one year before Dr. King’s tragic assassination.) And be sure to read and reflect on “Deepening Anti-Racism Work in the Peace Movement,” an insightful commentary by Michael McPhearson, Executive Director of Veterans For Peace and former UFPJ National Coordinator.

——– Forwarded Message ——–

In 2015 – in the legacy of the Black radical tradition – activists, organizers, clergy, and community members organized protests, direct actions, marches, shutdowns, and teach-ins to reclaim the legacy of both Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the movement that raised him.

After more than a year of sustained resistance, we continue this tradition in 2016 with a renewed commitment to push for the kind of change that can transform our communities for the better. In an election year, where opinions and principles sway to the pull of political need, it’s more important than ever that we speak and act clearly for what we stand for. Visit ReclaimMLK.com now to learn more.

This weekend, from Chicago, New York, Oakland, L.A., D.C., Baltimore, St. Louis, Atlanta, and other cities, people like you will reclaim the true legacy of the civil rights movement. On #DivestSaturday, we will focus our attention on the racist systems and institutions that hurt our people. On #InvestMonday, we will shine a light on the community-based solutions in which we all must invest. We invite you to be a part by either by joining an action this weekend or organizing your own.

The dream for full civil and human rights for Black people is not of the past. We live it every day. Visit ReclaimMLK.com and text MLK to 90975 to learn more about realizing the dream today.

Onward,

FergusonAction Team
http://engage.fergusonaction.com/

The post #ReclaimMLK: Take action this weekend! appeared first on United For Peace and Justice.

Original Art by Shawn G. Hart

Please join United for Peace and Justice in commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the March on Washington on August 24th in our nation’s capital. We need a strong peace and anti-war contingent to speak to the injustices faced by marchers in 1963, and those still endured today. We will echo King’s words about the inextricable links between poverty, war and racism, including hate in all its forms. We must ensure that the nation hears these parts of King’s message loud and clear on this anniversary of the March on Washington and I Have A Dream speech.

It’s important for activists of all economic and social justice struggles to gather for this march because it marks an essential part of our common history of struggle. The March on Washington not only helped pave the way for activism of the 1960’s, it also helped set into motion 50 years of struggle for peace and justice, the torch for which each of us carries today. To paraphrase King, we are the whirlwinds of revolt that will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges. What better time and place to come together in a collective effort to continue building the dream?

The challenges faced by the nation in 1963 in many ways mirror those we face today. How different is Trayvon Martin from Emmett Till? How is it that decades after people lost their lives for simply trying to exercise the right to vote, we have a U.S. Supreme Court gutting the Voting Rights Act and states like Texas and North Carolina following to immediately limit access? And how far have women come? In 1963 women did not have legal access to abortions or credit without their husband’s approval. Today, women continue to receive less pay than men for the same work and face an epidemic of sexual assault and violence. And, thanks to the Hyde Amendment, abortion rights extend only to those women who have the money to pay for them.

The economic front is no better. Fifty years ago African Americans faced 10% unemployment. The working poor both Black and White struggled to make ends meet with low wages and little hope of upward mobility. Today the nation faces a stagnant economy with too few jobs for anyone no matter their demographics and 12.6% unemployment for Blacks – far worse than in 1963. Yet, we have no jobs program in sight and sequestration has added to already deep cuts in local, state and federal human needs services. All this, while the Pentagon budget remains higher than that of the next ten nations combined. And today, like in 1963, the U.S. continues to be the greatest purveyor of violence in the world as the number one exporter of weapons, the main actor in the global war on terror killing tens if not hundreds of thousands of people, not to mention rampant gun violence here at home.

The similarities do not end there. Our country’s xenophobic trends of the past continue, targeting many groups with their hate. The acceptance of marriage equality has resulted in a backlash aimed at the LGBT community. Immigration reform hasn’t advanced because bigots fear Hispanics who come to the U.S. to pursue safety and security for their families (the same reason most U.S. citizens ancestors immigrated to these shores). Labor Rights endure unrelenting attacks with efforts to cut benefits for the working poor, keep wages low and deny healthcare.

It doesn’t stop here – the environment, corporate power, individual privacy rights and over-incarceration are all on the table, just as in 1963. All this and more must be talked about as the nation looks back to 50 years ago.

Many ask when, will this end? When will this change? The answer is when we the people bond together, across interests, to end it.  The commemorative March on Washington is a perfect building block for the platform of collaboration we need to create the change we want to see. I hope you will join me by marching in Washington DC or in your own community!  I look forward to seeing you there.

Michael T. McPhearson
National Coordinator

The post Continuing to Build the Dream appeared first on United For Peace and Justice.

We need your help to print posters for the August 24th March. Donate here today! 

Click on the images below to download a PDF of the poster (Poster design by Oskar Castro)

Original Art by Shawn G. Hart

The post Posters for the March on Washington appeared first on United For Peace and Justice.

A year earlier to the day, Dr. King delivered his Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence speech at Riverside Church in New York City. Widely known in peace circles, but seldom mentioned elsewhere, he laid out clear moral and pragmatic reasons why he was against the war in Vietnam. He called on our nation to have a “radical revolution of values,” to “shift from a ‘thing-oriented’ society to a ‘person-oriented’ society.” He called on us to confront the evils of hate including racism and bigotry in all its forms, materialism and poverty, and militarism or war.

This was not King’s first time speaking out against the triple evils of hate, poverty and war. In his December 11, 1964 Nobel Peace Prize Lecture, The Quest for Peace and Justice, King explained his thinking on these plagues of humanity. He called war obsolete, because the awesome power of modern weapons, resulting in the killing of so many innocent people, eliminates the possibility that war can play a positive role in solving conflicts. He explained that, “We will not build a peaceful world by following a negative path. It is not enough to say ‘We must not wage war.’ It is necessary to love peace and sacrifice for it.” He advised us to not simply be against war, but, “on the positive affirmation of peace.”

In this 45th year after his death and the 50th year after his most famous I Have A Dream Speech, let us examine King’s full legacy and measure the nation’s progress based on his vision of a just and peaceful world. Certainly we have fallen short. Today hate and poverty are on the rise and the U.S. continues to be the greatest purveyor of violence in the world with gun violence here at home, and as the globe’s number one exporter of weapons, as well as waging the now twelve yearlong global war on terror. Let us not pretend that electing people of color to political office and seeing a few of their faces on television, in movies and in corporate America means that the revolution of values is complete. Let us remember King by challenging ourselves and the nation to dream King’s dream and then struggle to make King’s dream of the Beloved Community a reality. A community where everyone; Black, White, Red, Yellow or Brown feels safe, has an opportunity to prosper and a chance at happiness.

The post Let Us Remember King by Making His Dream a Reality appeared first on United For Peace and Justice.