At a time when the United States continues to sew and water the seeds of war around the world, it is timely to consider the speech delivered by the late Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. nearly 56 years ago when our nation was immersed in one of a litany of foreign misadventures. Dr. King delivered his Beyond Vietnam speech at New York’s Riverside Church on April 4, 1967. It was an extraordinary speech in which he questioned not only the role of the United States in the world, but also the very nature of our economic system. It resonates as […]
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Hell Is Not Predestined
TMS PEACE JOURNALISM, 16 Oct 2023 Robert C. Koehler | Common Wonders – TRANSCEND Media Service 11 Oct 2023 – Humanity’s cancer shows up in Israel and Palestine. Missiles fly, hell makes global headlines, thousands of people die, many of them (oh God, of course) children. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant declares: “We are fighting human animals and we act accordingly. . . . We are imposing a complete siege on Gaza. There will be no electricity, no food, no water, no fuel. Everything will be closed.” That’ll show ’em! Revenge rules. Kill the human animals, even if they’re […]
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Kucinich Calls for Freedom from Fear, Nuclear Weapons and War
Here’s a real gem from the Ground Zero archives. Way back on August 7, 2011 Congressman Dennis Kucinich spoke at Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action during our annual gathering to commemorate the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. His speech was timely and powerful, calling on the United States to take concrete steps to work toward a nuclear weapon’s free world. He also called on the US to forge a new doctrine of Strength through Peace. Kucinich wrapped up his speech by reminding us that it is up to we the people to “resolve that we shall become as architects of […]
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Will the Coronavirus Pandemic Help Curb War and Militarism?
By Lawrence Wittner (Guest Contributor) [Dr. Lawrence Wittner (https://www.lawrenceswittner.com/ ) is Professor of History Emeritus at SUNY/Albany and the author of Confronting the Bomb (Stanford University Press).] Decades ago, when I began teaching international history, I used to ask students if they thought it was possible for nations to end their fighting of wars against one another. Their responses varied. But the more pessimistic conclusions were sometimes tempered by the contention that, if the world’s nations faced a common foe, such as an invasion from another planet, this would finally pull them together. I was reminded of this on March […]
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Building Dr. King’s (Global) Beloved Community
Some years ago the Rev. Joe Hale posed the question, “Is it ever possible to make peace by destroying bridges?” He was speaking in reference to Israel’s indiscriminate destruction of Lebanon, but he could have been speaking of any number of foreign policy decisions made by the U.S. government, particularly since September 11, 2001. The events of that fateful day in 2001 sowed new seeds of fear, anger and hatred, and fueled decisions in the highest levels of government that have made our nation and the world a much more dangerous place. Those seeds have since grown into what is […]
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