MLK Day Special: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in his own words

Martin Luther King Jr. – Photo courtesy of Bettmann Archive NOTE: Go to https://www.democracynow.org/2024/1/15/mlk_day_special to watch the hourlong show, which includes photos and videos to illustrate Dr. King’s words. As you watch and read, whenever Dr. King says “Vietnam,” substitute “Gaza.”  by Amy Goodman, Democracy Now! Today, Jan. 15, 2024, is a federal holiday that honors Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. He was born Jan. 15, 1929. He was assassinated April 4, 1968, at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. He was just 39 years old. While Dr. King is primarily remembered as a civil rights leader, he also championed the cause of the poor, organizing the Poor People’s Campaign to address issues of economic justice. And Dr. King was a fierce critic of U.S. foreign policy and the Vietnam War. “Beyond Vietnam” was the speech he delivered at New York’s Riverside Church on April 4, 1967, a year to the day before he was assassinated. In it, Dr. King called the United States “the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today.” Life magazine called the speech “demagogic slander that sounded like a script for Radio Hanoi.” The Washington Post said King “diminished his usefulness to his cause, his...