Troy Jackson Becoming King Summary

The Civil rights movement was a long and hard fight for freedom in our nation. Martin Luther King Jr. was one of the many people who devoted themselves and fought for the movement. He did it in hope to make the world a better place. Outraged and indignant, Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham city jail” addresses the events that took place in the name of freedom. Martin Luther King Jr. reflects on the events, through his use of tone, rhetorical appeals, and rhetorical tools.

Hearts of the oppressed will always cry out in desperation; waiting for anyone to swoop in and liberate them from their cruel reality. Few are capable of mustering up the gumption to throw their neck on the line in defense of the defenseless. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is one such man. Trading in his comfortable life for one of danger and ridicule, King was catapulted to the forefront of the Civil Rights Movement following the profound leadership he demonstrated during the Montgomery Bus Boycott. As a well-educated, African American pastor, he provided a unique perspective on the racial issues at hand.

Martin Luther King Jr. appeals to the citizens of the United States to help support not just African-Americans, but fellow citizens and humans. Mr.King appeals to the people’s emotions and morale by exclaiming bystanders are not innocent. Those who turn away from the violence and hatred towards African-Americans are just as much to blame for the murders as those who are killing African-Americans in the streets. This riot had a significant role in the march from Selma to Montgomery and Selma utilized this event to portray just how big of an impact that civil rights played during this

Martin Luther King Jr. was a strong leader in the Civil Rights movement, the son and grandson of a minister, and one heck of a letter writer. As he sits in a cell of Birmingham Jail in 1963, he responds to criticism from eight white clergymen. Though this letter was intended for the judgemental and condescending men of high faith, his response touched the hearts and minds of the entire U.S. population, then, and for years to come. In his tear-jerking, mind-opening letter, King manages to completely discredit every claim made by the clergymen while keeping a polite and formal tone. Metaphors, allusions, and rhetorical questions are used in the most skillful way to support his argument and ultimately convince his audience of the credibility behind his emotional, yet factual, claims.

“Let us all hope that the dark clouds of racial prejudice will soon pass away and the deep fog of misunderstanding will be lifted from our fear-drenched communities, and in some not too distant tomorrow the radiant stars of love and brotherhood will shine over our great nation with all their scintillating beauty.” Fortunately, King’s and other people’s hope was completed but it wasn’t an easy task to do. During the time King was writing the “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, the African-American Civil Rights Movement was proceeding. Men and Women were protesting for the equal rights of “colored people”, to overcome racial injustice in the USA and Martin Luther King Jr. was a major part of it. He was one of the main leaders of this movement; this

Martin Luther King Jr. was one of the most influential leaders of his time and played a crucial role in the African-American Civil Rights movement. Luther was a charismatic leader who took a firm stand against the oppressive and racist regime of the United States (US), devoting much of his life towards uniting the segregated African-American community of the US. His efforts to consolidate and harmonise the US into one country for all is reflected in many of his writings and speeches spanning his career. As a leader of his people, King took the stand to take radical measures to overcome the false promises of the sovereign government that had been addressing the issues of racial segregation through unimplemented transparent laws that did nothing to change the grim realities of the society. Hence, King’s works always had the recurring theme of the unity and strength of combined willpower.

Dr. Martin Luther King is a character of “Selma” human characteristics of humor, exhaustion and frustration. The story tells us about the actions and efforts of the King. It tells us that King was bestowed on a person no different than any of us. Moreover, we have no excuse not to as

Because of his skill in creating such pieces of writing, as well as his influential role within the Civil Rights Movement, and the reminder that Letter from Birmingham Jail provides of these trying times, his letter should continue to be included within A World of Ideas. Persuasion within writing is an important tool to be utilized in order to garner support for one’s position. During the 1960s, equality between different races was a very controversial issue which required a certain finesse when being discussed. Martin Luther King demonstrated precisely this sort of finesse when writing about the racial injustices faced by black Americans, as well as when refuting the criticisms he faced from white clergymen.

Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, and the Civil Rights Struggle of the 1950s and 1960s. A Brief History with Documents written by David Howard-Pitney is a great history book that gives us an entry into two important American thinkers and a tumultuous part of American history. This 207-pages book was published by Bedford/St. Martin’s in Boston, New York on February 20, 2004. David Howard-Pitney worked at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Papers Project at Stanford University in 1986, and that made him a specialist on American civil religion and African-American leaders ' thought and rhetoric (208). Another publication of Howard-Pitney is The African-American Jeremiad: Appeals for Justice in America.

Thurgood Marshall, Roy Wilkins, A. Philip Randolph, Rosa Parks, Dr. Martin L. King, Jr., among others, have become household names as pioneers of the Civil Rights Movement. Mention of Thurgood Marshall immediately conjures in mind the historic United States Supreme Court Case, Brown vs. Board of Education. A. Philip Randolph immediately reminds us of the “Second Emancipation Proclamation”, Executive Order 8802 which gave thousands of Negroes access to jobs in manufacturing plants receiving contracts from the defense department during World War II. Rosa Parks is inextricably associated in the minds of millions with the Montgomery Bus Boycott. And who cannot think of Dr. Martin L. King together with the March on Washington and

“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy” (King, Jr.). Martin Luther King Jr. exceeded this “measure of a man” during his civil rights acts as a strong soldier in a very volatile time. During this time of “challenge and controversy” King made himself heard in his famous “I Have a Dream” speech. In some of his civil rights acts that occurred in Birmingham, resulted in him ending up in jail. During his time in jail, he wrote his also famous “Letter From Birmingham Jail.”

Then the Montgomery government said that people of color could go anywhere on the buses. They had won their fight for the buses (Uschan 37-38). King showed them that they could achieve anything if they did it peacefully. They would not have had the bus boycott if King was not there to lead them. His leadership in this situation let him to become known for the first time.

At the 1963 March on Washington, American Baptist minister and activist Martin Luther King Jr. delivered one of his most famous speeches in history on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial at the height of the African American civil rights movement. King maintains an overall passionate tone throughout the speech, but in the beginning, he projected a more urgent, cautionary, earnest, and reverent tone to set the audience up for his message. Towards the end, his tone becomes more hopeful, optimistic, and uplifting to inspire his audience to listen to his message: take action against racial segregation and discrimination in a peaceful manner. Targeting black and white Americans with Christian beliefs, King exposes the American public to the injustice

Formative Years Early Life in the South Michael Luther King Jr. was born in Atlanta, Georgia on January 5, 1929 to Martin Luther King Sr. and Alberta Williams King, the second of three children. King’s residence in Atlanta saw a city filled with segregation. Most residents of color were treated as if they were the bottom of the barrel. They would only be allowed to shop in the back of stores, and were not allowed to eat at the counters in restaurants. There was however, a small black “middle-class” population in Atlanta which included teachers, ministers, and doctors (Haskins, 1977).

In Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter From Birmingham Jail,” he uses periodic sentences, syntax, diction, and allusions to write about his beliefs about the immense struggles African Americans experienced to gain their rights, how he views just and unjust laws, the many different influences have in their lives, and the cruel nature of the citizens, which are still prevalent today. First of all, African Americans went through immense struggles to get the rights they have today. African Americans watched their family members be innocently killed, experienced multiple cruel acts of segregation, and often felt strong resentment to the White population. For instance, Dr. King uses a periodic sentence and imagery to express the immense struggles African Americans endured to gain the