Letter from a Birmingham Jail: Dr Martin Luther King, Jr's pathos

Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is a figure that is nearly synonymous with the Civil Rights Movement that embodied much of the 1960s.

We know so much about his life, his speeches, his untimely death, but not much attention is paid to his writings.


But we should. 


While I was an undergraduate at Mercer University, I had the opportunity to read "Letter from a Birmingham Jail." With all the information I learned about Dr. King and all the history lessons about the 1960s, I'd never read anything other than the "I Have a Dream" speech. 


"Letter from a Birmingham Jail"evokes emotions, speaks to rationalities, and most notably takes on the clergy of Alabama who back the segregation laws. King's letter has elements both literary and biblical, but it is not difficult to read, or condescending. The letter was originally published in Liberation in June of 1963 and was eventually republished in The Atlantic Monthly.


Go here to read it (from the African Studies Center at the University of Pennsylvania.)


It is truly a remarkable letter from the belly of the whale.