MLK’s Radical Final Years: Civil Rights Leader Was Isolated After Taking On Capitalism & Vietnam War

Рет қаралды 19,671

6 жыл бұрын

democracynow.org - Fifty years ago this April, Rev. Martin Luther King was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee. He was just 39 years old. Today we look back at the last three years of King’s life, beginning after President Lyndon Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Despite passage of the monumental legislation, King set his eyes on new battles by launching a Poor People’s Campaign and campaigning to stop the Vietnam War. King’s decision to publicly oppose the war isolated him from many of his closest supporters. We feature clips from a new HBO documentary about King’s last years, titled “King in the Wilderness,” and speak with Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Taylor Branch, who wrote the “America in the King Years” trilogy and is featured in the film, as well as the film’s director Peter Kunhardt and writer Trey Ellis.
Democracy Now! is an independent global news hour that airs weekdays on nearly 1,400 TV and radio stations Monday through Friday. Watch our livestream 8-9AM ET: democracynow.org
Please consider supporting independent media by making a donation to Democracy Now! today: democracynow.org/donate
FOLLOW DEMOCRACY NOW! ONLINE:
Facebook: / democracynow
Twitter: / democracynow
KZfaq: / democracynow
SoundCloud: / democracynow
Daily Email: democracynow.org/subscribe
Google+: plus.google.com/+DemocracyNow
Instagram: / democracynow
Tumblr: / democracynow
Pinterest: / democracynow
iTunes: itunes.apple.com/podcast/demo...
TuneIn: tunein.com/radio/Democracy-Now...
Stitcher Radio: www.stitcher.com/podcast/democ...

Пікірлер: 53

@sherryspectre217 6 жыл бұрын

Doctor King was far ahead of his time. A true progressive, in every sense of the word. All that he fought for, are still the struggles we need to fight for today. We need more leaders like him, so we can have a better world for all.

@Anonymous-yw1cv 6 жыл бұрын

He would be "alt right" by today's standards.

@marquisealy3516 6 жыл бұрын

He was not a progressive he was a democratic socialist

@SagesseNoir 3 жыл бұрын

@@Anonymous-yw1cv Nonsense

@SagesseNoir 3 жыл бұрын

@@badboybj41 He was opposed to Communism, but sympathetic to democratic socialism. That is clear if you read AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR

@SagesseNoir 3 жыл бұрын

@@badboybj41 I'm afraid that you are mistaken. Yes, he was opposed to the Communist regimes in Russia and eastern Europe, but he was favorable to socialism, particularly democratic socialism. This can be seen in his 1952 letter to his then fiance, Coretta Scott. That letter appears in ther AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. Also in that text King mentions his interest in democratic socialism of Scandinavia while over there to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. Even in that sermon you mention from the Strength to Love, he describes the classless society as a noble end, but object to Communist efforts to achieve it by violence. But the classless society is precisely Marx's description of communism, though not what was practice in Communist regimes. Fact is, King was severely critical of both those authoritarian collectivist regimes in eastern Europe and the rapacious, predatory capitalism of the West

@HuevoDuro702 6 жыл бұрын

Today I believe 80% of Democrats and 100% of Republicans will opposed of his ideas!

@SagesseNoir 3 жыл бұрын

Probably true

@888Gypsy888 6 жыл бұрын

Thank you. So much about MLK life most Americans do not know about: we want the entire History!

@joey_dangerously 6 жыл бұрын

This is why he was killed. Not integration.

@ysgol3 6 жыл бұрын

I'm so glad that at the time of the 50th anniversary so much is being said about the wonderful radicalism of his final years, when he finally faced the fat that the conflict between rich and powerful and poor and powerless was, AND IS the real problem deep at the heart of America (and indeed the world!). So he died at a moment of exquisite creativity in his wonderful life.

@jakethesnakestoner 3 жыл бұрын

Absolute 🔥.

@toledout4339 6 жыл бұрын

Everyone has to checkout Judge Joe Brown, he was the Judge on the reopening trial for kings death. A lot of first hand information from a solid source.

@taoman85 3 жыл бұрын

We consider Chicago the Midwest not the North.

@gunnarg58 6 жыл бұрын

This fight has not ended, and Dr King is very much alive, in spirit, for many of us

@lucasnorwine2745 6 жыл бұрын

The riverside speech eloquently ties war and poverty and prejudice. Plz listen in whole it is a speech that transcends race and creed and delusion beautifully. There is no difference between the struggle then and the struggle now. Support our veterans. Have pity for our active troops, the most critical victims of our systems psy ops. Women taking charge will be the key to change in the future. It was women who initiated the protests of the world war involvment to begin with, hence the first Mothers Day. Know your history, know your enemy, know yourself. Change it all.

@robertnicholls9917 6 жыл бұрын

The romantic view of women you have is about a 100 years away. Women in these positions have done and will do the same garbage that has been done for the last 100 years. Most corrupt people, male or female, have no problem abusing power. You would be disgusted with some of the sociopaths working in government. Gender is not a determining factor at this point. There's no one pursuing big ideas, only interests. Look at Feinstein's record, especially as it pertains to the military. She's basically working for only 10,000 people. Like any selfish politician, women are no different. They pursue the same stupid agenda. Do you think Devos is a good leader? Her entire agenda is a horror movie.

@lucasnorwine2745 6 жыл бұрын

Robert Nicholls I was just stating a fact about where the first Mothers Day comes from and those where not the women I had in mind believe me in terms of hope for the future. I do believe though that a Congress flipped in the ratio of men to women would be a help. Not to be gender normative, I just believe the gop runs on male dominance, as does military complex spending and wall st

@robertnicholls9917 6 жыл бұрын

Samuel Norwine People are people. Assuming women in their current state will be different from men is whishful thinking. I wish that would be the case but women in their current state hate all the attributes about themselves that would actually make them act in a different manner. We've had known and unknown women throughout history who embraced those strengths but it's far and few between. Oftentimes, these women were ostracized by other women believing the lies created by men.

@tamikajackson3419 2 жыл бұрын

🐑Our Heavenly Father blessed me with 12 stars upon my head and i was born in this country since 1982 with iron hammer. Violating the rights of others always came with consequences including their own families.

@GrimLocke161 6 жыл бұрын

America needs Wobblies.

@thosethatcan 6 жыл бұрын

odd meeting w vatican.. in book Gods Bankers. photos of...

@kingfugazi 6 жыл бұрын

And, MLK's Memphis speech contains [what I call] a Jungian Slip. His trip with [a] god begins in ancient Egypt, whose capital was Memphis, and his life ends in a sorta circle, back in Memphis.

@johncantrell8407 4 жыл бұрын

The beast that was made a king

@kape1154 6 жыл бұрын

Why do we give more props to those that are dead and not to those that carry on the legacy by continuing the struggle? Shouldn't you be reporting on election fraud, Monsanto, Keystone pipeline, the Palestinian struggle, continued/new wars, etc?