After reading Martin Luther King Jr.'s 'Letter from Birmingham Jail', you will know that it was written during his eight-day sentence in jail on April 16th of 1963. It was written to the clergymen about their criticism of what he was doing, stating that it was “unwise and untimely”. The letter is King's response to an article in the newspaper. In it, he argues that he and his fellow demonstrators have a duty to fight for justice. Mr. King traveled to Birmingham due to the injustice, he chose to go and protest since he had other organizations that were homed in the city. So, he and several of his associates took to the road and headed to Birmingham, they didn’t want to just sit in Atlanta and do nothing when the people of Birmingham needed him.
King then mentions examples of early Christians, such as the Apostle Paul, who preached far from home, to make the point that King’s Christian obligation requires him to come to Birmingham because of the presence of injustice. Ultimately, “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere”, according to King, so when it comes to fighting injustice, there is no such thing as an outsider in the U.S. King states: “Anyone who lives inside the United States can never be considered an outsider anywhere within its bound”.
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In his 'Letter from Birmingham Jail', Martin Luther King Jr. states the steps for non-violent resistance and specifies the racial injustices that curse Birmingham. King points out that working through political channels in the city has proven powerless, for instance, removing signs that enforce segregation in public, and he explains that it is time for direct action, having postponed it a few times. He emphasizes that the aim is to open the doors to negotiation and start a dialogue, as opposed to the conversations that have been the usual in Birmingham.
King closes his letter by saying: “If I have said anything in this letter that is an understatement of the truth and is indicative of an unreasonable impatience, I beg you to forgive me. If I have said anything in this letter that is an overstatement of the truth and is indicative of my having a patience that makes me patient with anything less than brotherhood, I beg God to forgive me”.
'Letter from Birmingham Jail' is a great read, it takes you back to that era of time. It takes you to the mind of Martin Luther King Jr. Meaning not understanding a dang thing, not understanding why people were treated differently, if we can worship the same God and believe we were all put here by him purposely, why can't we live and thrive together, we are all brothers and sisters due to the fact that we have the same father. If we humans could just come together and overcome all the negativity and adversity and show one another support and stand together, the world would be a lot brighter.
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