Martin Luther King, Jr.: “Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence”

( 1967 ) Commentary by Chester Pach, Ohio University

Audience

King’s audience for “Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence” was more than three thousand people who packed Riverside Church in New York, where he spoke. King, though, knew that his speech would receive wide coverage in newspapers and magazines, and he hoped that it would help to strengthen opposition to the Vietnam War. He realized, however, that some of his ideas about U.S. aggression and imperialism would be unpopular, even offensive. Yet he was willing to risk such criticism because he felt a moral compulsion to speak out. “At times you do things to satisfy your conscience,” he explained.

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Martin Luther King, Jr. (Library of Congress)

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Martin Luther King, Jr.: “Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence”

Audience

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