Democracy Now Televises MLK Speeches on US Foreign Policy and Civil Rights (video)

While broadcast television virtually ignored the federal holiday Martin Luther King Day, choosing to stick with regularly scheduled fare over more somber holiday-themed programs, Democracy Now devoted its entire Monday telecast to the discussion of Dr. King and civil rights issues.

“Martin Luther King: In His Own Words” offers a powerful look at the slain civil rights leader and the tumultuous political environment he operated in. At just 39 years of age, Dr. King came to be widely known for his civil rights activism, but he also championed the cause of the poor, organizing the Poor People’s Campaign to address issues of economic justice.

Dr. King was also a fierce critic of U.S. foreign policy and the Vietnam War. In “Martin Luther King: In His Own Words,” Democracy Now replays Dr. King’s “Beyond Vietnam” speech given at New York City’s Riverside Church on April 4, 1967. Dr. King’s last speech, “I Have Been to the Mountain Top,” given on April 3, 1968, the night before he was assassinated, is also aired.

Democracy Now is a national, daily, independent, award-winning news program hosted by journalists Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez.

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