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Often when people hear the name Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., they think about the March on Washington and the “I Have a Dream” speech. But these are only a small glimpse into the extensive life, writings, and speeches of Martin Luther King.

King’s speeches and actions were not always considered inspirational by the mainstream of America, and in fact, King was demonized by leaders from the government, church and society. King challenged Americans to deal with problems of race, poverty and war, and was considered an “ultra-liberal”, a “revolutionary” and even a “communist” by those who feared the change that was the collective dream of the Civil Rights Movement.

On April 4, 1967 – one year prior to the day that King was murdered – he gave a speech titled, “Beyond Vietnam” at Riverside Church in New York City. Much in the way that those who speak out against war today are labeled “anti-American” by pro-war voices, Martin Luther King’s attention to the war angered many civil rights supporters as well as those who already hated what Martin Luther King stood for.

Below is an excerpt from this speech:

A true revolution of values will lay hand on the world order and say of war, “This way of settling differences is not just.” This business of burning human beings with napalm, of filling our nation’s homes with orphans and widows, of injecting poisonous drugs of hate into the veins of peoples normally humane, of sending men home from dark and bloody battlefields physically handicapped and psychologically deranged, cannot be reconciled with wisdom, justice, and love. A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death.

MLK, “Beyond Vietnam”
Riverside Church, New York City
April 4, 1967

Click here to listen to “Beyond Vietnam.”

Also, if you would like to learn more about the historical Martin Luther King Jr. and not the sanitized version that most American’s receive in history class and on the news, you can visit the Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute at Stanford University online.  This is one of our nation’s greatest assets in preserving the radical teachings of Dr. Martin Luther King.  It includes MLK’s speeches and sermons; the MLK Online Encyclopedia; lesson plans for teachers; and a number of other wonderful resources.