The Value of MLK’s Message Today In April,1963, A Letter from Birmingham Jail was written by MLK jr., a man who brought tranquility and healing to America in that time. Later that year on August 23rd, he produced one of the most well recognized speeches in the world; his ‘I have a Dream’ speech. Both his speech and his letter are commemorated for their amazing rhetoric, moral strength and thriving perseverance. Today, the world is much different because of his vision and the thousands who stood by him and made segregation a thing of the past. Yet that was over 50 years ago, and many people only see him as benefactor of the past and not a source of relevancy to their current lives. Today in 2016, we still struggle with inequalities rooted in prejudice, hostilities and fear. For example, black people not only make up a good source of the incarcerated population, but they are jailed at several times the rate of whites. Studies also prove that Black people are more likely to be shot by cops. However, King states that “freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed”, (Letter from Birmingham Jail, 1963). He nonviolently supported civil rights, …show more content…
The Civil Rights movement may be taught in History class, but the messages are just as apparent today. We must celebrate who we are as individuals, but also, that we are one race united. If we do not know that we come from different backgrounds, races, religions, and cultures, then we don’t understand the true words of MLK. Where at the end of his ‘I have a Dream’ speech he states “I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood”, talking about everyone coming together as a