Remembering Historian Vincent Harding, Who Drafted Dr. Martin Luther King's Anti-Vietnam War Speech

The video opens by remembering Vincent Harding, a historian, author, and civil rights activist who died at 82. He was a friend and speechwriter for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and notably drafted King's famous anti-war address, "Beyond Vietnam."

In a 2008 interview on Democracy Now, Vincent Harding discussed the internal community struggle surrounding King's decision to take a stance against the Vietnam War and US foreign policy globally.

Harding emphasizes that King, as a pastor, viewed these issues not just as foreign policy but through the lens of their impact on the poorest and most vulnerable people, both in the US and in other countries like Vietnam.

King saw a natural connection between the anger, frustration, and desperation of the poor in the USA and the devastation caused by the country's actions in Vietnam. He aimed to highlight the relationship between moral sickness at home and flawed policy overseas.

Vincent Harding, author, professor, and civil rights activist, passed away at 82. He drafted Dr. King's anti-war speech delivered at Riverside Church on April 4, 1967. Harding was also a professor emeritus of religion and social transformation at the Iliff School of Theology in Denver, and his interviews will be linked.