End the Nightmare, Bring Back the Dream!

Friday, Jan 13 2006
Noon to Sundown
Oakland Federal Building (near 12th st. bart)
1301 Clay St.

OAKLAND, CA – Friday January 13, the Peoples NonViolent Response Coalition (PNVRC) will host a continuous public reading of Dr. Martin Luther King’s 1967 speech, Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence, featuring local elected officials, community leaders, students, teachers, and members of the public. Beyond Vietnam, delivered at Riverside Church in New York City exactly one year before Dr. King’s tragic assassination, was a decisive challenge to the Vietnam War that remains highly relevant. On the 77th anniversary of his birth, PNVRC honors the full legacy of Dr. King’s work opposing militarism, racism, and poverty – the true “axis of evil”— in the current struggle for peace and justice.

A 12 noon press conference, hosted by Keith Carson, Alameda County Board of Supervisors President, will highlight calls to end the U.S. war and occupation of Iraq, demand justice for the victims of hurricane Katrina, honor Rosa Parks, and remember Tookie Williams.

At approximately 1 pm, the first reading of the speech will be lead off by press conference speakers and local elected officials. Community leaders including former Oakland City Council member Wilson Riles, John Bass of the Northern California Interreligious Conference, and Reverend Ama Zenya of Oakland’s First Congregational Church will follow. Members of community groups, displaced Katrina survivors and high school students are invited to participate in subsequent readings of the speech, starting at approximately 2 pm and 3 pm

At approximately 4 pm the readings will conclude with a sundown ceremony lead by Patricia St. Onge (Haudenosaune) of Bay Natives for Peace.


-- End the U.S. war and occupation of Iraq! --