#DropTheMIC Tour Countdown
10 days of highlighting inspiring anti-war sparks from the past in preparation to launch a reinvigorated, intersectional movement against the Military Industrial Complex in the present.
Day 10 — Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King gives his powerful and controversial speech “Beyond Vietnam — A Time to Break Silence
Drop the MIC Campaign | About Face
Join the movement to stop: the cycle of endless war, corporate war profiteering, and demilitarize our communities. #ReclaimMLK #MLKDay
Text: On April 4, 1967, Dr. King delivered a speech titled “Beyond Vietnam.” #DropTheMIC #ReclaimMLK
While he received a standing ovation that night, the following day Dr. King was denounced by 168 major newspapers. While today every major press outlet will commemorate and memorialize Dr. King, there was a time when that wasn’t the case. #ReclaimMLK #MLKDay
NYT, in particular, reminded Dr. King his battlegrounds were “in Chicago and Harlem and Watts” and by diverting attention to Vietnam was “both wasteful and self-defeating.” #ReclaimMLK #DropTheMIC
But Dr. King held that racism, poverty, and militarism were interlocking evils. One ex.- Vietnam saw the highest proportion of Blacks ever to serve in a US war. #ReclaimMLK #DropTheMIC
Dr. King called young men to become conscientious objectors. Black #GIResistanceargued that the discrimination they faced in ranks was symptomatic of a society that oppressed Black ppl, & war itself was an extension of white supremacy. #DropTheMIC Link:
On April 4, 1968, precisely one year after he delivered “Beyond Vietnam,” Dr. King was assassinated. According to a poll in early ’68, MLK’s disapproval rating was nearly 75% at the end of his life. #RelcaimMLK
Dr. King stated, “In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies but the silence of our friends.” We won’t be silent anymore. Join us to #DropTheMIC →
Dr. King directed us to, “make what reparations we can for the damage we have done.” As an org, we endeavor to be a community connected in solidarity with war-torn peoples, working across differences for reconciliation, mutual healing, and collective liberation. #ReclaimMLK
As anti-militarist veterans, we owe a great deal to the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. whose vehement condemnation of US militarism & gross disparities in wealth/ opportunity laid the foundation for our ongoing work. #ReclaimMLK#DropTheMIC #MLKDay
.@RevDrBarber of @UniteThePoor says “we must reach down in the blood and pick up the baton.” This requires acknowledging the blood our military spills around the world so corporations can profit, & demanding change. JOIN US →
