On April 1963, a series of coordinated marches and sit-ins led by the Alabama Christian Movement for human rights and Dr. Martin Luther King’s Southern Christian Leadership Conference began in Birmingham, Alabama. It was a non-violent campaign made up of African American people. Judge W. A. Jeakins issued a ruling preventing “parading, demonstrating, boycotting, trespassing, and picketing.” The leaders decided not to follow this ruling, so Dr. King, Ralph Abernathy, Fred Shuttlesworth, and other Marchers were arrested. They were all treated very harshly in jail. One of their allies snuck in a newspaper which contained “A Call for Unity,” which is a statement made by eight white Alabama clergymen, who agreed that social injustices do exist, but they should be “fought in the courts, not the streets.” They also called Dr. King’s non-violent protests “untimely and unwise.” This was the statement which caused Dr. King to write a response to the clergymen in a place, which according to Dr. King, “was probably the most racially divided city in the country.” Dr. King believed that all communities and states are interrelated, so an injustice
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King’s letter from Birmingham is one of the most important documents of the Civil Rights era. It reminds us of how far we have come as a nation in living up to the ideals of justice and equality for all. In his letter, Dr. King emphasized the urgent need for social change and racial equality, but in the present, black citizens still experience social injustices like racial profiling and police brutality. Another important statement in his letter was his cry for a non-violent campaign of civil disobedience, like rallies and marches, to protest against unjust laws, which we still use today. The notion of the connection between people is the reason we are all responsible for correcting injustices wherever they occur in the world, because the injustices will eventually affect us, making this letter very relevant to our
King’s letter from Birmingham is one of the most important documents of the Civil Rights era. It reminds us of how far we have come as a nation in living up to the ideals of justice and equality for all. In his letter, Dr. King emphasized the urgent need for social change and racial equality, but in the present, black citizens still experience social injustices like racial profiling and police brutality. Another important statement in his letter was his cry for a non-violent campaign of civil disobedience, like rallies and marches, to protest against unjust laws, which we still use today. The notion of the connection between people is the reason we are all responsible for correcting injustices wherever they occur in the world, because the injustices will eventually affect us, making this letter very relevant to our