[Peace] Sun Jan 18th, 2-4pm: King eve event: "Renewing America's Promise of Peace and Justice". What does King's "Beyond Vietnam" speech say to us now?

[Stuart Levy]

"Renewing America's Promise of Peace and Justice"
Sunday, Jan 18th, 2-4pm
Champaign Public Library Robeson Pavilion room "A"

Martin Luther King's 1967 speech at Riverside Church, "Beyond Vietnam -
A Time to Break Silence", condemned our war of that time -- its terrible
consequences for the Vietnamese people, the promises of peace and freedom
belied by our actions, and the war's corrosive effect on the people and
the soul of America, and especially on the poor.

King did not stop there: he saw that war as "but a symptom of a deeper
malady": as part of a pattern of injustice, of poverty, inequality and
war, which could be addressed only through a revolution of values.


At this event, we will listen to Rev. King's Riverside Church speech.
We'll discuss it, and will hear from a panel of speakers -- Carol Ammons,
and Ken Salo (both are members of C-U Citizens for Peace and Justice),
and Ricky Baldwin (of AWARE, and Jobs with Justice).

How can we understand today's America -- which pursues aggressive wars,
where the gap between rich and poor has grown enormously, where racism
remains pervasive -- in the light of King's vision of 42 years ago?

We will also consider what lessons we draw from this for our new President
Obama, and for the Congress.  We'll bring pre-addressed postcards so you
can compose messages to them on the spot.

The event is free and all are welcome!

You can read the text of King's speech here:
    http://www.anti-war.net/documents/king-beyond-vietnam.html

Sponsored by AWARE (Anti-War, Anti-Racism Effort of Urbana-Champaign).
Co-sponsors include the Interfaith Alliance (and likely other organizations soon).


(Note: an hour after this event ends, don't miss the big annual
M.L.K. Jr. community event at Krannert Center's Foellinger Auditorium.
That'll be 5-7pm on Jan 18th.  They will have a keynote speaker, 
community choir performances, and awards of the 2009 MLK Jr.
scholarship competition.  For more on this and many other C-U
community events surrounding King's birthday, see
   http://www.admin.uiuc.edu/mlk/community.html
All those events are free and open to the public too.)