online – Beyond Vietnam: Militarism, Racism and Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s Enduring Legacy

On April 4, 1967, exactly one year before he was murdered, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. gave an historic sermon at New York’s Riverside Church on the profound connection between US militarism abroad with violence, racial repression, and widespread deprivation on the home front.

Over 50 years later, from Ukraine to Uvalde, the crises of militarism, materialism, racism and the prospect of spiritual death that Dr. King warned us about are still very much with us. Not only does this militarism abroad continue to seed violence and poverty at home, it now aggravates the climate crisis and consumes vital resources that could alleviate climate-related suffering.

The New Democracy Coalition (NDC), Massachusetts Peace Action (MAPA), and cosponsors will present a public reading of “Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence”, May 2, with 100 readers, on Boston City Hall Plaza, to bring community focus to the issues of war, militarism and racism.   Sign up to be a reader on May 2.

This April 4 online program will be a time to reflect on how the Beyond Vietnam speech came to be and why it is as significant today as it was on the day it was delivered.   Speakers will include:

Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis, Co-Chair of the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival, and Director of the Kairos Center for Religions, Rights and Social Justice at Union Theological Seminary

The Right Rev. Marc Handley Andrus, 8th bishop of the  Episcopal Diocese of San Francisco, and author of Brothers in the Beloved Community- the Friendship of Thich Nhat Hanh and Martin Luther King Jr.

Mandy Carter, national coordinator, National Black Justice Coalition; co-founder, Southerners on New Ground; board member, War Resisters League; National Council of Elders.  She was interviewed about the 1983 Women’s Peace Walk by C.R. Spicer in the January 2023 issue of the Peace Advocate.

Rev. Kevin Peterson, Founder, New Democracy Coalition

Sponsors:  New Democracy Coalition; Massachusetts Peace Action

Register to attend the webinar on April 4.