In the “Letter from Birmingham Jail” Martin Luther King expresses a ‘critical citizenship’ doctrine of political obligation where laws should command and adhere to moral authority. In this letter, Martin Luther King communicates the injustices occurring towards the black community in Birmingham, Alabama as they peacefully demonstrate against police brutality, targeted attacks, and most likely the worst record of segregation in all of the United States (1). The political obligation doctrine of ‘critical citizenship’ that King promotes is continually refused to be negotiated by political leaders various times in 1960s Birmingham, leaving the black community with no other alternative but to demonstrate peacefully through non-violent, yet tension-creating
