Dr. Martin Luther King's "Beyond Vietnam: A Time To Break Silence", April 4th, 1967

Exactly one year before he was assassinated, Dr. Martin Luther King delivered a speech about the Vietnam War known as "Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence" or the Riverside Church speech. Dr. King recognized that the Vietnam War was a politically driven humanitarian crisis and that the United States should focus on improving people's lives stateside. This speech would cost Martin Luther King many political allies who were responsible for the war like President Lyndon Johnson.

"Somehow this madness must cease. We must stop now. I speak as a child of God and brother to the suffering poor of Vietnam. I speak for those whose land is being laid waste, whose homes are being destroyed, whose culture is being subverted. I speak of the -- for the poor of America who are paying the double price of smashed hopes at home, and death and corruption in Vietnam. I speak as a citizen of the world, for the world as it stands aghast at the path we have taken. I speak as one who loves America, to the leaders of our own nation: The great initiative in this war is ours; the initiative to stop it must be ours."