WASHINGTON - January 16 - Internet Flash Movie, at http://www.bushflash.com/mlk.html, Recalls King’s Warnings Against the Ravages of War.

A day after citizens opposed to the U.S. occupation of Iraq booed President Bush when laid a wreath at the grave of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., prominent peace groups launched an inspiring internet flash movie that reveals just how out-of-sync the White House is with Dr. King’s message of peace and love.

The flash movie represents just one way that peace, social justice and civil rights groups are trying to reclaim Dr. King’s message and remind Americans that King was not only a champion for civil rights, but also a stalwart defender of peace and social justice. This holiday weekend public interest groups are holding countless teach-ins and symposiums, publishing op-ed pieces, and distributing messages over the internet.

The internet flash movie excerpts Dr. King’s April 4, 1967 speech at Riverside Church in New York City and overlays his words with images from the Vietnam War and the current Iraq War. A loop of a Tupac Shakur song provides a musical background. Over images of war abroad and poverty at home, Dr. King’s voice tells viewers: “A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death.”

The film was produced by Global Exchange, Code Pink: Women for Peace, Black Voices for Peace, and United for Peace and Justice.

“Dr. King and Mr. Bush are polar opposites,” says Medea Benjamin, co-founder of Global Exchange, a human rights group that co-produced the flash movie. “Dr. King’s message was love, peace and compassion; Bush’s message is war, revenge and fear. If Dr. King were alive today, he’d be leading massive protests against Bush’s war in Iraq, his abandonment of the poor in this country, and his attacks on affirmative action.”

“Even as our warmongering president insults Dr. King with his actions, thousands of people all around the United States are honoring the memory of Dr. King by working today—and every day of the year—for peace and justice,” says Reverend Graylan Hagler, National President of the Ministers for Racial and Economic Justice and a board member of United for Peace and Justice. “By sharing this internet movie with friends and family, people can help spread Dr. King's true message.”

The Dr. King movie can be viewed by visiting http://www.globalexchange.org or http://www.unitedforpeace.org or http://www.alternet.org.

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