Understanding MLK's 'Letter From a Birmingham Jail

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Letter from a Birmingham Jail AnnotationsDirections.1.As a group, jointly annotate the document using the 4 questions below.2.Put your initials next to each of your annotations. I should see evidence of eachmember's contribution The expectation is that each member will have severalannotations.3.You may want to use a different color for each question, e g . Connections in red,Challenge in blue. etc.Connections,What coniwcD'ocB do you draw between the text and yourown IIfe or votir other learning?Challenge;What Ideas ptHthcins. or astumptioM do you want to cMIenflfatargue with in the text?Concepts;What key concents or ideas d o you think are important and worthholding on to from the t«i?Changes:What fhnn,In attitudes. thinking. or action are wggestfd fry I h rtext, elthrr Icc you or cithers1'Exemplar

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Letter From a Birmingham JailDr. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote his famous "Letter From a Birmingham Jail" on April 16,1963. from the city jail in Birmingham, Ala. King had been arrested for participating in anon-violent protest with the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights and theSouthern Christian Leadership Conference.AUTHOR DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.Leiter From a Birmingham JailTeaching ToleranceJuliaiuia Kelley, Sarita Kelkar, Jack CieslowskiLetter From a Birmingham JailGroup AnnotationsBirmingham City JailApril 16, 1963My dear Fellow Clergymen,While confined here in the Birmingham CityJail, I came across your recent statement callingour present activities ''unwise and untimely."Seldom, if even do I pause to answer criticism ofmy work and ideas. If I sought to answer all thecriticisms that cross my desk, my secretarieswould be engaged in little else in the course ofthe day and I would have no time forconstructive work. But since I feel that you aremen of genuine goodwill and your criticisms aresincerely set forth, I would like to answer yourstatement in what I hope will be patient andreasonable terms.I think I should give the reason for my being inBirmingham, since you have been influenced bythe argument of "outsiders coming in." I have-MLK usually doesn't respond tocriticism, stating that hereceives so much that it wouldconsume his and his secretaries'entire day, highlighting theenormous amount of backlashand criticism that he receivedfor his views. (JC)-He also does not considerresponding to criticism to be"constructive work," showingthat he is far more interest injumping into direct action ratherthan defending his views to themany people that disagreed withhim at the time. (JC)-Divide between MLK and othermembers of the Church: internalcritique in the Black communitv(SK)-MLK refers to the phrase"outsiders coming in", whichreminds me of the current daycommon phrase "go back toyour country” .Both of these

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the honor of serving as president of tlie SouthernChristian Leadership Conference, anorganization operating in every Southern statewith headquarters m Atlanta, Georgia. We havesome 85 affiliate organizations all across theSouth - one being the Alabama ChristianMovement for Human Rights. Whenevernecessary and possible we share staffeducational, and financial resources with ouraffiliates. Several months ago our local affiliatehere in Birmingham invited us to be on call toengage in a nonviolent direct action program ifsuch were deemed necessary. We readilyconsented and when the hour came w e lived upto our promises. So I am here, along with severalmembers of my staff because we were invitedhere. I am here because I have basicorganizational ties here. [...]Moreover, I am cognizant of the interrelatednessof all communities and states.in Atlanta and not be concerned about whatcomments are exclusionary andrefer to others as outsiders,someone who doesn't belong(IK)-How injustice in one areamatters in another: allowinginjustice to continue in one areais as bad as not taking action atall (SK)-Makes me wonder about whatthis fully extends to: would rivalnations who want to cause harmto the US also be welcomeinside its borders? Or is MLKsolelv referring to innocentfolk?(JK)appeijsSirrr. : z an:,[justice a ’.yv. :ere s aarean inescapable network of mutuality tied in asingle garment of destiny. Whatever affects onedirectly affects all indirectly. Never again can weafford to live with the narrow, provincial'outside agitator' idea. Anyone who lives insidethe United States can never be considered anoutsider anywhere in this country'.You deplore the demonstrations that arepresently taking place in Birmingham. But I amsorry that your statement did not express asimilar concern for the conditions that brought

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the demonstrations into being. I am sure thateach of you would want to go beyond thesuperficial social analyst who looks merely ateffects, and does not grapple with underlyingcauses. I would not hesitate to say that it isunfortunate that so-called demonstrations aretaking place in Birmingham at this time, but Iwould say in more emphatic terms thatmore unfortunate that th.: white power structureof this city left the Negro community w. th ncotlIn any nonviolent campaign there are four basicsteps: 1} collection of the facts to determinewhether injustices are alive: 2) negotiation: 3)self-purification; and 4) direct action. We havegone through all of these steps in Birmingham.There can be no gainsaying of the fact that racialinjustice engulfs this community. Birmingham isprobably the most thoroughly segregated city inthe United States. Its ugly record of policebrutality is known in every7section of thiscountry. Its unjust treatment of Negroes in thecourts is a notorious reality7. There have beenmore unsolved bombings of Negro homes andchurches in Birmingham than any city- in thisnation. These are the hard, brutal, andunbelievable facts. On the basis of theseconditions Negro leaders sought to negotiatewith the city fathers. But the political leadersconsistently refused to engage in good faithnegotiation. [...]You may well ask, Wrhy direct action? Whysit-ins, marches, etc.? Isn't negotiation abetterpath?" You are exactly right in your call forHow systematic, occurrenceslimit the options of the Blackcommunity to take action;power decreases as the structurecontinues (SK)How Birmingham has been wellknown in terms of its policebrutality and howrthey treatother races. Connects to muchof the BLM movements in therecent years, although the policebrutality and inequality wasmost likely much more brutal(JK)MLK presents his method tocreating change via nonviolentcampaign but discusses how itis not as effective due to the factthat no political leaders arewilling to talk to him andnegotiate. This reveals one ofthat these political leaders wererepressing the community7and

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