Martin Luther King, Jr. "A Time to Break Silence"

In honor of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s upcoming birthday anniversary, January 15th, I thought it appropriate to remind ATS that the issues we face today are not at all different from the issues we have faced in the past. Dr. King, unlike many civil/human rights leaders today, spoke from the heart and not from the pocketbook. He was a truly great man destined to become a martyr for his brave words.

This speech, given by Dr. King 4 April 1967, at a meeting of Clergy and Laity Concerned at Riverside Church in New York City, speaks truth 40+ years later. For the full text of his speech, go here.

This video was posted to youtube in March, 2007 during the Bush Administration. The Obama Administration is just as guilty. There is no difference between the two.


"A time comes when silence is betrayal."






[edit on 10/1/2010 by Iamonlyhuman]

Our President's remarks about non-violence and MLK, from his Nobel acceptance speech (my bold):

There will be times when nations - acting individually or in concert - will find the use of force not only necessary but morally justified. I make this statement mindful of what Martin Luther King said in this same ceremony years ago - "Violence never brings permanent peace. It solves no social problem: it merely creates new and more complicated ones." As someone who stands here as a direct consequence of Dr. King's life's work, I am living testimony to the moral force of non-violence. I know there is nothing weak -nothing passive - nothing naïve - in the creed and lives of Gandhi and King.

But as a head of state sworn to protect and defend my nation, I cannot be guided by their examples alone. I face the world as it is, and cannot stand idle in the face of threats to the American people. For make no mistake: evil does exist in the world. A non-violent movement could not have halted Hitler's armies. Negotiations cannot convince al Qaeda's leaders to lay down their arms. To say that force is sometimes necessary is not a call to cynicism - it is a recognition of history; the imperfections of man and the limits of reason.

Our President clearly feels that violence is the only proper response to"evil", the only way to achieve peace, and the Nobel committee agrees.

Originally posted by John_Brown

Our President clearly feels that violence is the only proper response to"evil", the only way to achieve peace, and the Nobel committee agrees.

Funny that the Nobel Peace Prize committee agrees that war is the means to peace, isn't it?