Jay Janson: King's Anguish When He Condemned U.S. War Crimes and Foreign Policy Worthy of Emulation
[Musician and writer, who has lived and worked on all the continents and whose articles on media have been published in China, Italy, England and the US, and now resides in New York City.]
"For the sake of the hundreds of thousands trembling under our violence, I cannot be silent."-- Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Riverside Church, New York City, April 4th, 1967
We should make constant use of King's 1967 speeches condemning the war and foreign policy of his country, and insisting that every citizen protest. His words then, fit our situation today exactly. So much so, that we could, and should, have King still leading us now, by a non-stop quoting of his words, repeating the toughest phrases like:
"The greatest purveyor of violence in the world today [is] my own government.!"
Our nation was forced to recognize his leadership and actions risking his life and suffering arrest and jail to cause immoral laws to be revoked, undemocratic laws to be changed, new laws to be written criminalizing behavior previously tolerated, and unfair practices and policies, at even the top echelons of government, to be altered in fresh recognition of human dignity.
King is now an icon. King has stature. His words bite! They are respected and are almost impossible for anyone to answer in criticism. Ignoring them is all the war supporters can try to continue to do. King made people feel ashamed. We caught his shame, his sense of responsibility.
His presentation of the history of U.S. immoral acts of violence in third world countries and call for action in protest is our best instrument for confronting ignorance and apathy.
We can resurrect King's outcry against US war crimes, buried by corporate mass media, at a time in which a criminally insane administration, and liberals as well, seek to convince us that the violence coming back at us is the 'greater' violence that justifies our present massive overkill policies.
King's birthday holiday is progressives' annual opportunity to re-broadcast Rev. King Jr.' preaching against the war on Vietnam, and to relate his words to today's wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Somalia....
Read entire article at OpEdnews
"For the sake of the hundreds of thousands trembling under our violence, I cannot be silent."-- Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Riverside Church, New York City, April 4th, 1967
We should make constant use of King's 1967 speeches condemning the war and foreign policy of his country, and insisting that every citizen protest. His words then, fit our situation today exactly. So much so, that we could, and should, have King still leading us now, by a non-stop quoting of his words, repeating the toughest phrases like:
"The greatest purveyor of violence in the world today [is] my own government.!"
Our nation was forced to recognize his leadership and actions risking his life and suffering arrest and jail to cause immoral laws to be revoked, undemocratic laws to be changed, new laws to be written criminalizing behavior previously tolerated, and unfair practices and policies, at even the top echelons of government, to be altered in fresh recognition of human dignity.
King is now an icon. King has stature. His words bite! They are respected and are almost impossible for anyone to answer in criticism. Ignoring them is all the war supporters can try to continue to do. King made people feel ashamed. We caught his shame, his sense of responsibility.
His presentation of the history of U.S. immoral acts of violence in third world countries and call for action in protest is our best instrument for confronting ignorance and apathy.
We can resurrect King's outcry against US war crimes, buried by corporate mass media, at a time in which a criminally insane administration, and liberals as well, seek to convince us that the violence coming back at us is the 'greater' violence that justifies our present massive overkill policies.
King's birthday holiday is progressives' annual opportunity to re-broadcast Rev. King Jr.' preaching against the war on Vietnam, and to relate his words to today's wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Somalia....