Thursday, April 19, 2012


martin Luther King Jr.'s "Beyond Vietnam" was a powerful and angry speech that raged against the war. At the time, civil rights leaders publicly condemned him for it.

PBS talk show host Tavis Smiley's new documentary, MLK: A Call to Conscience explores King's speech. The film is the second episode of Tavis Smiley Reports. Smiley spoke with both scholars and friends of King, including Cornel West, Vincent Harding and Susannah Heschel.

By the time King made the "Beyond Vietnam" speech, Smiley tells host Neal Conan, "he had fallen off already the list of most-admired Americans as tallied by Gallup every year." Smiley continues, "it was the most controversial speech he ever gave. It was the speech he labored over the most."

After King delivered the speech, Smiley reports, "168 major newspapers the next day denounced him." Not only that, but then-President Lyndon Johnson disinvited King to the White House. "It basically ruins their relationship," says Smiley. "This was a huge, huge speech," he continues, "that got Martin King in more trouble than anything he had ever seen or done."
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=125355148

12 comments:

  1. Shafie, why did King feel the US needed to get out of Vietnam? What were his main arguments against the war?

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  2. MLK didn't believe the Vietnam war was justified

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  3. The main argument for U.S to get of Vietnam war was, I think, there was a lot of American at home who were against the war, the war was expensive and most important the was going long time than expected, it is prolonging and there was no victory at sight. A lot of American took to the street protesting, a lot of campus student mobilize protesting against it.

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  4. Really i like your topic it is a good.

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  5. Hello. this is ideas is okay.

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  6. At the time, there were many other civil rights leaders who thought that MLK was trying to change thing too quickly. They thought that he was causing too much agitation, and that he should slow down.

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  7. I really like your topic, its nice one.

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  8. War can hardly be justified, it's never a good thing.

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  9. martin Luther King Jr.'s take a big part Vietnam war.

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  10. Great speech by martin luther king Jr.,it make difference !

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