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Sojourner Truth: Tuesday January 17, 2023

Sojourner Truth Radio

English - January 17, 2023 16:35 - 59 minutes - 81.8 MB - ★★★★★ - 12 ratings
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Today on Sojourner Truth we bring you our King Day special program paying homage to Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s radicalism. Dr. Martin Luther King became increasingly vocal about his views against the war the U.S. was waging at the time–
the war in Vietnam. He delivered a speech entitled, “Beyond Vietnam: Time to Break the Silence,” exactly one year before his assassination.
Dr. Martin Luther 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 U.S. government as the greatest purveyor of violence in the world and preached that nonviolent direct action is our greatest hope and the best tool to bring about change.

Over 54 years later, in this powerful speech, Dr. King provides both a diagnosis and a cure that remains fully relevant today. As the U.S. finds itself encroached in yet another war enabling the continued war between Russia and Ukraine.

Today, in partnership with the CA High Desert residents and the CA Poor People's Campaign, Sojourner Truth brings you audio from this public reading of “ Beyond Vietnam.” This event was part of 54 public readings— for each year since Dr. King’s assassination— taking place across the state of California.

The CA Poor Peoples’ Campaign has picked up Dr. King’s unfinished work, weaving the interlocking injustices—systemic racism, systemic poverty, environmental devastation, militarism and the war economy and a distorted moral narrative of Christian nationalism—into one “moral fusion” campaign.

We hope you'll enjoy this live reading of Martin Luther King's speech "Beyond Vietnam" read by the CA high desert residents honoring the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.