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Letter from Birmingham Jail

 
Letter From Birmingham Jail

 
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Letter from Birmingham Jail
 
 
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The Letter from Birmingham Jail or Letter from Birmingham City Jail, is an open letter
Open letter

An open letter is a Letter that is intended to be read by a wide audience, or a letter intended for an individual, but that is nonetheless widely distributed intentionally....
 written on April 16, 1963, by Martin Luther King, Jr.
Martin Luther King, Jr.

Martin Luther King, Jr. was an United States pastor, activist and prominent leader in the African-American African-American Civil Rights Movement ....
, an American
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 civil rights
African-American Civil Rights Movement (1955-1968)

The African-American Civil Rights Movement refers to the reform movements in the United States aimed at abolishing racism against African Americans and restoring suffrage in Southern states....
 leader. King wrote the letter from the city jail in Birmingham
Birmingham, Alabama

Birmingham is the largest city in the United States state of Alabama and is the county seat of Jefferson County, Alabama. It also includes part of Shelby County, Alabama....
, Alabama
Alabama

Alabama is a state located in the Southern United States of the United States of America. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west....
, where he was confined after being arrested for his part in a non-violent protest conducted against segregation
Racial segregation

File:Segregated cinema entrance3.jpgRacial segregation is the separation of different Race s in daily life, such as eating in a restaurant, drinking from a drinking fountain, using a rest room, attending school, going to the movies, or in the rental or purchase of a home....
.

King's letter is a response to a statement made by eight white Alabama clergymen on April 12, 1963, titled "A Call For Unity
A Call For Unity

"A Call for Unity" was a letter written on April 12, 1963 by eight white clergymen local to Birmingham, Alabama and published in a local newspaper....
".






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Martin Luther King 1964 Leaning On A Lectern
The Letter from Birmingham Jail or Letter from Birmingham City Jail, is an open letter
Open letter

An open letter is a Letter that is intended to be read by a wide audience, or a letter intended for an individual, but that is nonetheless widely distributed intentionally....
 written on April 16, 1963, by Martin Luther King, Jr.
Martin Luther King, Jr.

Martin Luther King, Jr. was an United States pastor, activist and prominent leader in the African-American African-American Civil Rights Movement ....
, an American
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 civil rights
African-American Civil Rights Movement (1955-1968)

The African-American Civil Rights Movement refers to the reform movements in the United States aimed at abolishing racism against African Americans and restoring suffrage in Southern states....
 leader. King wrote the letter from the city jail in Birmingham
Birmingham, Alabama

Birmingham is the largest city in the United States state of Alabama and is the county seat of Jefferson County, Alabama. It also includes part of Shelby County, Alabama....
, Alabama
Alabama

Alabama is a state located in the Southern United States of the United States of America. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west....
, where he was confined after being arrested for his part in a non-violent protest conducted against segregation
Racial segregation

File:Segregated cinema entrance3.jpgRacial segregation is the separation of different Race s in daily life, such as eating in a restaurant, drinking from a drinking fountain, using a rest room, attending school, going to the movies, or in the rental or purchase of a home....
.

King's letter is a response to a statement made by eight white Alabama clergymen on April 12, 1963, titled "A Call For Unity
A Call For Unity

"A Call for Unity" was a letter written on April 12, 1963 by eight white clergymen local to Birmingham, Alabama and published in a local newspaper....
". The clergymen agreed that social injustices existed but argued that the battle against racial segregation should be fought solely in the courts, not in the streets. King responded that without nonviolent forceful direct action
Direct action

Direct action is politically motivated activity undertaken by individuals, groups, or governments to achieve political goals outside of normal social/political channels....
s such as his, true civil rights
Civil rights

Civil and political rights are a class of rights ensuring things such as the protection of peoples' physical integrity; procedural fairness in law; protection from discrimination based on sexism, religious intolerance, Racism, Homophobia, etc; individual freedom of freedom of belief, freedom of speech, freedom of association, and freedom...
 could never be achieved. As he put it, "This 'Wait' has almost always meant 'Never.'" He asserted that not only was civil disobedience
Civil disobedience

Civil disobedience is the active refusal to obey certain laws, demands and commands of a government, or of an occupying power , without resorting to physical violence....
 justified in the face of unjust laws, but that "one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws."

The letter was first published as "Letter from Birmingham Jail" in the June 12, 1963, edition of The Christian Century
The Christian Century

The Christian Century is a Christianity magazine based in Chicago, Illinois, Illinois. It was founded in 1884 as The Christian Oracle in Des Moines, Iowa, Iowa as a Disciples of Christ Religious denomination magazine....
, and in the June 24, 1963, issue of The New Leader
The New Leader

The New Leader is a political and cultural magazine begun in 1924 by a group of figures associated with the Socialist Party of America, including Eugene V....
. It was reprinted shortly thereafter in The Atlantic Monthly
The Atlantic Monthly

The Atlantic is an United States magazine founded in Boston in 1857. Originally created as a literature and culture commentary magazine, its current format is of a general editorial magazine....
. King included the full text in his 1964 book Why We Can't Wait
Why We Can't Wait

Why we can't wait is a book by Martin Luther King, Jr. about the civil rights struggle against racial segregation in the United States, and specifically in Birmingham, Alabama....
.

The letter includes the famous statement "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere," as well as the words attributed to William E. Gladstone quoted by King: "[J]ustice too long delayed is justice denied."

External links

  • article at BhamWiki.com