Letter From Birmingham Jail Research Paper

Chris Brooks
3 March 2016

On January 15th, 1929, a future legend was born. From Atlanta, Georgia, Martin Luther King Jr. grew up to become one of the most influential figures in American history. Dr. King had a dream to change America forever & he would go on to do just that. Dr. King wanted to put an end to segregation between colors and white people. He felt as if colors weren’t receiving equal rights as the whites were so he decided that he was going to do all that he could to change that, but Dr. King wanted to keep his movement clean with no violence. Although King knew that he would have many people wanting to see him fail, that didn’t stop him so he began his journey & this is the story.

In 1955, being only 26 years

King was arrested and put into jail during anti-segregation protests in Birmingham, Alabama; he then goes on to write ‘Letter From Birmingham City Jail’ stating his argument that individuals have moral duty to disobey unjust laws. On August 28th, 1963, King and fellow leaders of the civil rights movement put together a big march for equal rights in Washington, DC. With a huge crowd of over 200,000 followers, the march protesting racial discrimination in employment, racial separation in schools, and they demanded minimum wage for all works. It was the biggest gathering in Washington, DC, where one of the one of the world’s most legendary speeches was given by Dr. King. Titled, “I Have A Dream”, Dr. King calls to put an end to racism in America and he also called for equal civil and economic rights. A year later, in 1964 Dr. King writes publishes his book, ‘Why We Can’t Wait’, that was based on the nonviolent movement against racial separation. In that same year, Dr. King receives the Nobel Peace Prize for his powerful leadership of the Civil Rights movement and dedicated commitment to succeeding racial justice through nonviolent action. Another great thing happened in the same year of 1964; Congress passes Civil Rights Act of 1964, putting a stop to segregation in public accommodations and discrimination in employment and

This did not stop him from fighting for what he believed was right. Even after many threats and incidents, Dr. King continued to push hard to achieve what he set out to achieve and he did just that. Sadly, on April 4th, 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated. The world was in shock, King was a very respected and powerful man to many people so his death brought on much sadness. Dr. King fought hard to bring equality to all people. Without him, I don’t know where most of us would be today. My education would not be possible if it wasn’t for him. My livelihood would not be possible and I owe it all to that man. The themes that Dr. King showed was that; with hard work and dedication you can make a difference. He also showed that taking risks can sometimes be worth it. And last but not least he taught us that although you may go through hardships and struggles, it’ll all be worth