"Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence", also referred as Riverside Church speech, is an anti-Vietnam war and pro-social justice speech delivered by Martin Luther King Jr. on April 4, 1967, coincidentally exactly one year before he was assassinated. The major speech at Riverside Church in New York, New York, followed several interviews and several other public speeches in which King came out against the war in Vietnam and the policies that created the war. Some, like civil rights leader Ralph Bunche, the NAACP, and the editorial page writers of the Washington Post and the New York Times called the Riverside Church speech a mistake on King's part. Others—including James Bevel, King's partner and strategist in the Civil Rights Movement—called it King's most important speech. It was written by activist and historian Vincent Harding.
King delivered the speech, sponsored by the group Clergy and Laymen Concerned About Vietnam, after committing to participate in New York's April 15, 1967, anti-Vietnam war march from Central Park to the United Nations sponsored by the Spring Mobilization to End the War in Vietnam.
In 2010, PBS commentator Tavis Smiley said that the speech was the most controversial speech of King's career, and the one he "labored over the most".
In popular culture
A portion of this speech is used in the track "Wisdom, Justice, and Love" by Linkin Park, from their album A Thousand Suns.
One of the eight "sound cells" in @Large, Ai WeiWei's 2014–15 exhibit at Alcatraz, features King's voice giving the "Beyond Vietnam" speech.
Excerpts from this speech are used in the song "Together" by Nordic Giants.