From Potter's Field

Martin Luther King Jr. wrote “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” on April 16, 1963. King was a civil rights activist and minister. As an advocate for nonviolence, he became known as one of the greatest leaders in history. He worked towards the progress of racial equality. In 1957, King was elected to serve as the leader of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), a civil rights organization for African-Americans. In 1963, King, along with the SCLC led a nonviolent campaign against…

For my first journal entry, my group decided to use this time to discuss the reading assignments from this week, which includes chapter two in Soul of a Citizen, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” and Gene Sharp’s “The Methods of Nonviolent Action.” Chapter two was an interesting chapter, because the beginning had talked about the strategies of Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr, and how President Nixon bailed Rosa Park out of Jail. I have always been fascinated with the…

The article, Letter from Birmingham Jail by Martin Luther King Jr, discusses the nonviolent resistance to racism. He uses ethos and pathos throughout his argument to the clergymen to announce the point of how he believe that him going to Birmingham would benefit the movement. The author goes in detail to talk about the movement of standing up for their rights, going on to address a more general audience of both whites and Africans, to say that he felt as if the racism should not be focused on…

Letter from Birmingham Jail Many years ago, Martin Luther King Jr was sitting in a jail in Birmingham, Alabama for marching against segregation.From his cell he wrote an astonishing analysis of what constitutes a just law and a law. During this time people were protesting to gain equal rights for colored people, to outlaw racial injustices. Slavery had ended after the civil war, however, the life of black Americans had improved a little. Black people were forced to ride in the back of the bus.…

The act of breaking the unwritten laws, a law that is made by the society that is unspoken of and unwritten, but is upheld just as equally as regular laws, is easier than actually facing the consequences of doing so. One who breaks an unwritten law does not think as far in advance of what consequences they will face for breaking the society’s norms. In To Kill a Mockingbird, Mayella Ewell's act of breaking Maycomb's unwritten law of racial separation was easier than facing the effects of doing…

"Letters from Birmingham" is a series of letters written in a Birmingham jail cell by Martin Luther King. The letters were intended to be a response to criticism from clergymen after Martin Luther King was arrested for protesting without a permit. Kings message in the letter explains why he protested, the purpose of peaceful protest, and how segregation has diseased society. He describes his presidential ranking amongst the Southern Christian Leadership Conference group and his organizational…

In “Letter from Birmingham Jail” repetition is used numerous times, the purpose is to make certain words or phrases stand out to the reader. Repetition is the action of repeating something that has already been said or written. King repeats the words “when you” in the following statement, “when you have seen vicious mobs… when you have seen hate filled policemen…when you see the vast majority of you twenty million Negro brothers smothering… when you suddenly find your suddenly find your tongue…

In this letter, Martin Luther King Jr. explains how he felt about justice during that time, and the real reasons why he ended up in jail. The main purpose behind this letter was to respond to criticism and to express agreement to the idea that unjust laws were not laws at all. Martin Luther King Jr was judged by his nonviolent protests described as unwise and untimely. In this letter, he demonstrated how he believed that nonviolent direct actions were more effective than any other kind of…

In Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, King explores and rejects the different issues presented as a public statement of concern, issued by religious leaders in the South. King talks about his decision of nonviolence in his movement against racial segregation and addresses the problems people were making everyday in respect to the end of segregation. He discusses his personal experience dealing with racial segregation and his reason to promote change. King also discussed…

Danny Milam October 23, 2017 Professor Nair ENGL-103 Letter from Birmingham Jail After being thrown in jail for non-violently protesting, Dr. Martin Luther King felt obligated write letter in response to the critics of his tactics. In Dr. King’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, he makes a well stated and very thought out attempt to justify his civil disobedience. In doing so King expressed a certain moderate and casual tone. His casual and respectful tone allowed him to better cast out…