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Martin Luther King Letter From Birmingham Jail

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In the Civil Rights Movement, there were many important and influential leaders that contributed their time, words, and even life to it. One of which was important, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. He was one of the few who actually, and quite literally, dedicated/gave his whole life to it. Dr. King did everything he could to spread the word and demonstrate how unfair the current laws were at the time against all African Americans in the US. Martin Luther King Jr. was placed under arrest and was tried to be contained, but nothing stopped him. In the Letter from Birmingham Jail and in his I Have a Dream speech, he spoke/wrote words that provoked, calmed and inspired many others to join/contribute to the Civil Rights Movement. Dr. King’s words in his Letter From Birmingham Jail provoked many different feelings for many different people. Some who already supported the Civil Rights Movement were provoked by feelings that allowed them to take action, while those who didn’t support the movement were angered by the fact that their actions were being exposed publicly. For instance, MLK stated how “You [being the clergymen from Alabama] deplore the demonstrations taking place in Birmingham. your statement [those of the clergymen]. fails to express similar …show more content…

Martin Luther King Jr.'s Letter from Birmingham Jail and his I Have a Dream speech, he spoke/wrote words that provoked, calmed and inspired many others to join/contribute to the Civil Rights Movement. Even though his words provoked different feelings for different people, it all still was a great contribution to the movement. This was the same way to speak for calming and inspiring people as his descriptive words help guide some peoples thinkings, goals, and actions. Dr. King was one of the people who in the movement didn’t work violently but peacefully, in a very appropriate/formal manner. Even though some of MLK’s words were just a few sentences, they contributed greatly to the Civil Rights

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By reading both “Alabama Clergymen’s Letter to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr” and “Letter from Birmingham City Jail- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr” the reader becomes aware of how passionate and rightfully life changing Martin Luther King Jr’s movements were. The first letter, sent to King by an Alabama clergymen, is an perfect representation of the painfully common defiance white leaders had towards the oppressed blacks. The clergymen also drops the classic “wait”, saying that if King stops his demonstrations, “equality” and “peace” will eventually ease into the white leaders minds. The second letter is written by King to the clergymen, addressing in the most calm way possible just how wrong he is, and how these demonstrations need to cause tension.

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In Dr. King’s letter, he is responding to the outside world by calling him and the individuals involved, unwise. Dr. King argues that for justice, they had no other choice but to do this. The three themes I noticed in this letter was; injustice, religion, and nonviolent actions. As we all know, Dr. King was all about nonviolent acts of protesting. In his letter, he writes, “Several months ago the affiliate here in Birmingham asked us to be on call to engage in a nonviolent direct-action program if such were deemed necessary” (King).

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Martin Luther King, Jr. attempts to persuade clergymen to follow in his civil rights movement through exhibiting his knowledge over just and unjust laws, displaying peaceful behavior, and empathetic diction. King was very knowledgeable about laws and his right as a human. King stated laws in his letter to the clergymen, which displayed his credibility. He did not only state laws, he also stated just and unjust laws. King stated, “How can you advocate breaking some laws and obeying others?”

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Martin Luther King, Jr. was a great example, he fought for his country to gain this freedom even though he went to jail and went against the law trying to accomplish his goal. As the author states in his letter “ We will reach the goal of freedom in Birmingham, even if our motives are at present because the goal of America is freedom”)(Luther King 240). Following Martin Luther King words we have the mission to accomplish this if we work together. At that time that Luther king wrote this letter the major problem was in Birmingham.

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It was the letter from Birmingham jail that Martin Luther King, Jr wrote that explain how these certain event that he acted upon were contradictory to what the constitution has to say. Martin Luther King Jr wanted rights for his people for African Americans to have the right to vote. For their rights picking who would best shape America. After section four was strike down the dissenting group of supreme justices had powerful opinions on the different racism happening on multiple states creating racial formation in which Martin Luther King Jr had acted upon. In which indicated that many African Americans did not have the right to vote do to the hierarchy in certain states.

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Dr Martin Luther King decided to write a letter form jail because he was arrested for fighting for his and many others rights in Birmingham Alabama. The letter expresses the frustration that Martin Luther King has with the clergymen. Martin Luther King states, “I am in Birmingham because injustice is here. ”(king). Dr. King then went on to say it is his responsibility to attack injustice because he believes all communities are unified as one.

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563 Words | 3 Pages

“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.”

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On April 16th 1963 Martin Luther King Jr. wrote a letter to his fellow clergymen from a jail in Birmingham, Alabama. M.L.K. was invited by the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights to stage a nonviolent direct action program to protest against segregation, and the injustice being in Alabama. Though criticized heavily, he felt compelled to write a letter from the Birmingham city jail when he heard that a statement was put out by men that he believed to be genuinely good willed. His letter was addressed to his fellow clergymen who complained that his peaceful protest agitated the community, they also stated that the nonviolent protest was “unwise and untimely”. Martin Luther King’s letter was in direct response to the clergymen's statement.

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Martin Luther King Jr. was a civil rights activist who believed in peaceful protest. However, Martin Luther King Jr. was arrested and sent to jail in 1963 when he, along with many people, were protesting the awful treatment of African Americans / blacks in Birmingham, Alabama. While he was in jail, he wrote a letter and sent the letter to the audience regarding how black people couldn’t get justice from the white southerners. His eloquently written letter pertains to his beliefs and his thoughts, so it became a piece of text/ literature that substitutes his lack of presence while he was in jail.

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Martin Luther King summary Martin Luther King, Jr. was arrested on April 12, 1963 for breaking an unjust law against political demonstrations. After King was unjustly held without his right to a lawyer, he penned the letter from birmingham jail. To begin, Dr. King starts off by letting the clergymen know he gets a lot of "criticism," shall we say, and that he and his people mostly don't have time to pay attention to the haters. But in this case, he's making an exception and speaking for what he has accomplished in the civil rights movement. While critics said how he was an outsider involving himself in something he had no right to.

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1302 Words | 6 Pages

I believe that paragraphs 9 and 12 from Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail” are the strongest paragraphs in this letter of his. These paragraph is so profound and truly explain why segregation is unjust in two short paragraphs. They don’t go into a lot of detail on why segregation is unjust, because they don’t need to. They’re argument is strong enough with how short they are. Since these paragraphs give an easy to understand and short reasoning as to why segregation is unjust, explains what makes a law just or unjust, and show that just laws can be unjust when applied to situations such as segregation, I believe they are the strongest paragraphs in this letter.

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726 Words | 3 Pages

Civil rights leader, Martin Luther King Jr, in his Letter from Birmingham City Jail, argues against criticism from eight Alabama clergymen, and addresses their concerns. He defends his position, and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), against accusations of disturbing the peace in Birmingham, as well as explaining his values and opinions. Throughout the letter, King adopts a strong logical and credible tone, and reinforces his position through the use of strong emotional justifications, in order to appeal to the clergymen and defend his public image. Martin Luther King opens up his Letter from Birmingham City Jail by appealing to the clergymen's emotions, and assuring his peaceful response, which he describes in "patient and

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1110 Words | 5 Pages

The Civil Rights Era was one of great courage and bravery, as many people of color were taught how to fight in terms of silence and nonviolent protest such as sit-ins, marches, and boycotts. MLK became a powerful leader during this movement and was locked in Birmingham Jail for protesting, yet, instead of fighting this jailing, he wrote a letter to the government by making a nonviolent effort to end the segregation and injustice by joining with his organization and fighting for his beliefs. By composing this letter, King writes that he will create a “constructive, nonviolent tension” by means of communicating in terms of displaying his beliefs in a way that creates tension and, thus, a basic building block for future movements. This letter impacted the Civil Rights Movement due to the fact that it was the beginning of all unity between people of color and allowed the community to create goals together and work towards equality in an impactful way. American individuals who ignored and looked past MLK and Birmingham were, in a sense, ignoring their lives and their duties because they didn’t want to face the ugly truth that is racism.

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Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. became a famous person for a multitude of reasons. Not only was he one of the most important people in the civil rights movement. Not only was his “I Have a Dream” speech one of the most powerful speeches, but the letter he wrote while in jail helped solidify his place in history. Shortly after being imprisoned for conducting a peaceful protest against the unfair racial injustices, he began to hear of eight white religious leaders of the South commenting on his methods and tactics for fighting for civil rights. This is what led him to write his famous letter.

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The Civil Rights Movement was a big thing for the United states and we as Americans will always remember Martin Luther King Jr. for helping lead the people and inspire change and bring hope. The speech “ I Have a Dream” by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was an important gathering of people at the Lincoln Memorial. A huge crowd gathered to listen to his powerful speech which helped to inspire change. Martin Luther King also wrote a letter to eight white clergymen named “Letter From Birmingham Jail” the letter was written in in his jail cell which he was in for marching and protests. In both of these texts Dr. King used pathos and logos to inspire change and reach out to the people during the civil rights movements.

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