Letter From Birmingham Jail Summary

The Letter Read Around The World On April 16, 1963, while Martin Luther King Jr. was in jail for participating in a civil rights protest, he wrote a letter to eight clergymen to plead his case why the protests happening in Birmingham and all over the south were just. “Letter from Birmingham Jail” not only took the clergy by surprise, it took the whole nation by surprise. At the time of the letters publication, the nation was still divided by the Mason-Dixon line but for a different reason this time; the south was unfairly treating the African American citizens who lived there; stores wouldn't sell their goods to them, restaurants wouldn't serve them, African American people even had to use water fountains and bathrooms specifically marked …show more content…
The letter was was written to directly criticize king for his actions in Birmingham and elsewhere, they also criticized him for being an outsider and that he has no business involving himself in another states affairs. King read this letter and felt hurt to receive such criticisms. King then wrote a response on paper that was smuggled into the jail by his fellow inmates. “Dr. King wanted Christian ministers to see that the meaning of Christian discipleship was at the heard of the African American struggle for freedom, justice, and equality” (Washington 84). King also noted that resting to unjust laws is a moral obligation to those who stand by and lay witness to them. Once King finished the letter which spanned over many pages, he sent bits and pieces with his lawyer who then sent the bits and pieces to reverend Wyatt Walker who then edited and compiled the letter into one uniform piece of writing. Letter From Birmingham Jail was printed over 1 million times and sent to a myriad of churches throughout the country, it was published in all different kinds of newspapers and magazines such as The New York Post and Atlantic Monthly (Kelly