Geneva Conference

On Good Friday, April 12, 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his followers were arrested and jailed for demonstrating against segregation in Birmingham, Alabama. On that same day, eight prominent white Alabama clergymen wrote a statement that was published in the local newspaper in which they portrayed Dr. King as an outside agitator whose actions incite hatred and violence and as a result, urged the African American citizens of Birmingham to withdraw their support for the demonstrations and…

further establishes his ethos when he was accused of being an outsider coming in to stir up trouble. First, he points out that he was invited by local leaders to assist in the protest and that he is the president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. He then addresses the major premise that “Outsiders should not be leading local protests” by providing an ethical point of view. He states that Apostle Paul and the Old Testament prophets went…

Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. also referred to as MLK Jr. provided one of the most productive revolutions for the African American community. He fought for his rights and for the rights of those to come. He was not a violent man but used kindness and compassion as fuel to fight against the prejudice and discrimination that African Americans were experiencing in the United States. Martin Luther King Jr. was born on January 15, 1929 in the region of Atlanta, Georgia. In Atlanta,…

Martin Luther King Jr. is an important persuasive person in American history. Martin Luther King Jr. was born on January 15, 1929 and was murdered on April 4, 1968 where he was giving his I Have a Dream speech. Martin Luther was a segregated speaker. He spoke for civil rights for African-Americans. He was a part of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People in 1954. He wanted to see equality between blacks and whites. He accepted the leadership of a Negro nonviolent…

The Literary Techniques of MLK On April 19, 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. wrote an open letter to eight clergymen who questioned his involvement in non-violent protests in Birmingham, Alabama. The Letter of Birmingham Jail brilliantly appeals to both the clergymen and a broader audience. King masterfully uses strategies such as narrating, exemplifying and comparing-contrasting. For the purpose of this essay, we will focus on the literary technique of Comparing-Contrasting in King’s letter.…

James Earl Ray is the man responsible for civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. death. On April 4, 1968, Ray shot king standing on the balcony of the Lorraine Hotel. The police confirmed that Ray shot king using a rifle from a window of a rented room across the street (“James”). He immediately fled from the scene and it took over two months for the FBI to catch him in London (Biography). Ray pled guilty for murder in 1969 and was sentenced to ninety nine years. After three days, Ray tried…

Born Michael Luther King, Jr., on January 15, 1929, Michael changed his name to Martin. Martin Luther went to school in Georgia where he completed high school at fifteen years old. He got a B.A. degree in 1948 from Morehouse School, a college for African Americans of Atlanta from which both his dad and granddad had graduated. He was chosen president of a predominantly white senior class at Crozer Philosophical Theological school in Pennsylvania. In 1951, Martin was granted the B.D. Martin…

verbal abuse from white racist (Martin Luther King Jr. Biography). MLK quickly took action to encourage students by having the SCLC, an organization formed by DR.King that would conduct non-violent protest and fight for civil rights, organize a conference. Martin Luther King Jr. encouraged the students to continue with that they were doing, and “by August of 1960, the sit-ins had been successful in ending segregation at lunch counters in 27 southern cities”(Martin Luther King Jr. Biography). Dr.…

refutes the first argument of the clergymen, King is an outsider, by stating, “I . . . am here because I was invited here. I am here because I have organizational ties here” (“Letter” p 2). King was the president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference which supports his credibility as a civil rights activist. Furthermore, while King explains the imminent resistance of the oppressed, he states: The…

In 1963, there was a letter written to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. by a group of clergymen. The clergymen addressed specifically the recent civil right movements in Alabama. These men were not in good spirits about “outsiders” advocating for change because the inconveniences these efforts had caused. Shortly after Dr. King read this outrageous letter he wrote a letter of his own. Dr. King explained how the Negro Community is not the cause of tension. The tension has always been there, they are…