Please enable JavaScript.

Coggle requires JavaScript to display documents.

Letter from Birmingham jail - Coggle Diagram

- - - - Pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama
      - Leader of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (strongly believed in non-violence protests)
      - Delivered a speech ("I Have a Dream") on the steps of Lincoln Memorial On august 28, 1963
      - In 1964, won the Nobel Prize for peace.
  - - - To help his readers understand it he draws a distinction between laws and unjust laws
  - - - Lets us all hope that the dark clouds of racial prejudice will soon pass away and the deep fog of misunderstanding will be lifted from our fear-drenched communities, and in some not too distant tomorrow the radiant starts of love and brotherhood will shine over our great nation with all they scintillating beauty (50)
    - - King establishes a common ground by referring to them as 'fellow clergymen'
      - He wishes that the clergymen had supported his actions instead of criticising them
  - - - HIs campaign was a continuation of the push for equal rights that had been gaining momentum in the United States for decades
      - King, along with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, has dispatched hundreds of people to Birmingham to engage in nonviolent demonstrations against those who were determined to keep African Americans from gaining their full rights as citizens
  - - - King's main concern: Racial Segregation in Alabama
      - King also troubled by the indifference of white moderates who have urged him to call off his protests
      - King answers his critics as well as his central question by saying that because the people of the United States are interconnected, the injustice in one state will eventually affect the entire country
- - - - “Like Paul, I must constantly respond to the Macedonian call for aid.”
    - - “But again I am thankful to God that some noble souls from the ranks of organized religion have broken loose from the paralyzing chains of conformity and joined us as active partners in the struggle for freedom.”
    - - “Just as Socrates felt that it was necessary to create a tension in the mind so that individuals could rise from the bondage of myths and half-truths to the unfettered realm of creative analysis and objective appraisal…”
    - - “...when you take a cross-country drive and find it necessary to sleep night after night in the uncomfortable corners of your automobile because no motel will accept you; when you are humiliated day in and day out by nagging signs reading ‘white’ and ‘colored’...”
    - - “For years now I have heard the word ‘wait.’ It rings in the ear of every Negro with a piercing familiarity.”
    - - “Now, what is the difference between the two? How does one determine when a law is just or unjust?”
      - "How can you advocate breaking some laws and obeying others?" (15)
      - "Will we be extremists for hate or for love?" (31)