On April 4, 1967, at Riverside Church in New York City, Clergy and Laymen Concerned About Vietnam (which later became Clergy and Laity Concerned) held a meeting at which Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was named cochair of the organization. On that occasion, one year to the day before his death, King delivered his first major statement on the Vietnam War, the text of which follows.
By linking domestic and international struggles for human rights with opposition to U.S. military and economic policies, the speech became a challenge and inspiration to the civil rights and anti-war movements of the time, as well as a source of controversy among King's more moderate supporters. As we commemorate King's birthday on Jan. 15, his message is perhaps even more relevant now that it was in 1967.
--The Editors
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