An Analysis Of Martin Luther King's Letter From Birmingham Jail

1963 could be considered the peak of the civil rights movement- with protests in Birmingham, the March on Washington, and the surfacing of Martin Luther King Jr.'s ground-breaking pieces "I Have A Dream" and "Letter from Birmingham Jail," the demand for civil rights had become a genuine American crisis. Dr. King wrote "Letter from Birmingham Jail" while he was in custody with the intention to share with fellow Americans his grievances and explain the absolute necessity for protests in Birmingham. Almost a century prior, in 1852, Frederick Douglass delivered his biting and passionate speech "The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro" on behalf of all the enslaved. Somewhat similar to Dr. King's letter, Douglass shares his own grievances regarding

The “Letter from Birmingham Jail” by Martin Luther King Jr. is about the unfair, brutal, and racist treatment the black community has been receiving from white people. This letter was written when he was arrested after peacefully protesting about segregation and how the black people didn’t agree with the law. In the letter, Martin Luther King Jr.’s feelings are being expressed toward the unfair events and it is an example of a well-written argument. In the letter are three claims pointed from King, it states he has a valid reason for being in Birmingham, the black community has no alternative, but to demonstrate and the need for justice is urgent. Also, it discusses king’s intentions during the civil rights movements.

Martin Luther King Jr. and his followers succeeded in showing America how to truly stand for freedom, how to truly achieve peace, how to truly be an “American”. Other Blacks like Malcolm X failed to do this, and he is a great example of what not to do. The only thing MLK failed at is living long enough to get his message of equality through everyone’s thick skull who still doesn’t get it. What people need to do now is be like Martin Luther King Jr. and solve situations with peaceful intentions and not with violence. Once people come to understand this and each other is when there will be peace among the

He inspires many because when they think of him, they get reminded that fighting hate with hate doesn’t work. His inspiring and most popular speech, “I Have A Dream” focuses on how he hopes that one day, all negro’s can be equal to whites and be friends. The people of our country know that if we do as he did, our world can be a better place. Some people have realized that the only way is to forgive your enemies, but sadly most have not. That is why we the people need to keep looking up to him no matter what, because it’s never too

In the “Letter From Birmingham Jail” Dr. Martin Luther King Jr addresses seven clergymen about a letter they wrote about King and his demonstrations with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) in Birmingham, Alabama. Dr. King addresses these clergymen in a professional manner, but he also states the reasons why he and the rest of the protesters are protesting. Even though people have different views of the world, everyone has the same hopes and dreams for their country to be perfect. During Dr. King’s time the topic was about race. In today’s world there is the same topic but we have come a long way.

In John A. Salmond’s intriguing book My Mind Set on Freedom, he brings to light the hardships of the African American people during a movement that evidently shaped the future for a progressing country. Based on the fight for freedom in the heart of the Civil Rights Movement, Salmond thrusts you into an epic battle that occurred for the oppressed African American race in America. Salmond’s main theme throughout the novel was that many great people battled the great evil of slavery/oppression, and waged an inevitable battle of triumph. “ Nevertheless, the years between 1955 and 1968 saw the movement at its zenith, and it transformed the South and cleansed the nation of a great moral evil.”(162). In his viewpoint, Salmond explains the many occasions of racism throughout the South, and concedes their impact on the Civil rights movement; both good, and bad.

In using nonviolence 600 people were able to come together to do what is right. They do not even need to speak to make a difference. All they have to do is walk peacefully to make the change they want in the world. Also another thought spoken was, “If we turn back, nothing will change!” and “We can’t give up now!”

For this reason, older African-Americans usually go to the youth at churches and schools to spread the awareness and knowledge about social groups like the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). On the other hand, there were non-violent people like Martin Luther King Jr., and there were more “hands on” people like Malcolm X when it came to the equality of African-Americans. Even though both of these leaders are dead they left a huge impact on the black communities and even made more people come out and support the fight for justice. When I think about the Black Panther Party, I think about the Black Lives Matter movement (BLM) that is going on today. There aren’t police beatings like Rodney King, but there are police killings like Sandra Bland.

Martin Luther King jr. lead the people in the fight for civil rights. He believed in integration of all races and wanted equality for him and his people. He wanted the right to vote for all blacks because he knew that that right would give the people a voice in a country they could call their own. One of King’s most memorable and impactful boycotts was the one that took place after Rosa Parks’ decision to stay seated at the front of a city bus. This boycott was known as the Montgomery bus boycott and it was protesting the racial segregation of public transportation.

The history of African Americans in the United States is a subject that embodies the majority of attention. When we are taught about the slave trade in the United States general focus tends to primarily gravitate to North America. We know that Slavery was the prominent product in the colonies which helped the economy to flourish. The forceful and horrendous transition slaves faced from Africa to Colonial America is exemplified as the prevalent victimized diaspora in U.S. history. There has been an ongoing struggle for black’s rights in the south Americas for several decades, Latin America is a region that imported over ten times as many slaves as the United States, and kept them in bondage far longer.

In the 1960s African Americans were fighting the battle for their civil rights in the South. The city that enforced segregation the most in the South was Birmingham, Alabama. Negros encountered mobs of angry white men, the KKK, and police brutality (1-2). The Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights needed more participants for their nonviolent direct action program (1). This is why Martin Luther King Junior was involved in Birmingham.

King was disappointed in the biased and distorted views of his fellow religious colleagues and the fact that they showed no concern for the brutality endured by the black community. The exigence of it is Dr. King felt the necessity to defend and justify his nonviolent actions and responded to their accusations and disapproval by writing a Letter from Birmingham Jail. In his letter King wrote about racial discrimination and the struggles and inequalities faced by the black community and he intended for it to encourage and promote desegregation and equality among all nations.

The final time and way the Black Church helped gain equality and destroy racism was through serving as an organizational place, essentially a base of operations for the Civil Rights Movement (The Black). The Black Church played a pivotal role in the protests and marches of the Civil Rights Movement. Whether in basements or crowded offices the churches made plans for many boycotts and other protesting actions (Mellowes). They helped organize carpools during the Alabama bus boycott and the auxiliaries of Siloam Presbyterian Church in Brooklyn helped schedule who and which people would be protesting the Brooklyn worksite each day (Taylor). Not only did these churches directly help the Movement most of the ministers at the time were huge leaders of the Civil Rights Movement.

On April 16th, 1963, after being thrown in jail for protesting segregation in the height of the American Civil Rights Movement, Martin Luther King Jr., a civil rights activist and pastor, in his letter entitled Letter from Birmingham City Jail, urges for social equality in America and justifies his use of nonviolent protest. He supports these claims by first stating his people will gain freedom because freedom is an American right as well as a God-given right, then explicates how the methods of law enforcement are unjust because any protection of segregation is immoral, and finally claims all of the people who have made sacrifices on the path to a segregation-free America will be the people to unify the country. Through King’s use of tone,

Atlanta, Georgia 1929, a Baptist priest was born a son who would grow up to be a fighter of extraordinary proportions. This son grew up into a man-Martin Luther King Jr. and this man became the face of African American civil rights during the 60’s. April 16, 1963 he wrote a powerful letter in response to white clergyman who stated that racial injustices should not be fought in the streets, but rather in the courts. A Letter From Birmingham Jail is a piece that defined a trying time in American history and continues to be relevant today. King discusses non-violent resistance and the deplorable state the church was in.