Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhereIn August 1963, Martin Luther King, Jr was arrested for parading without a permit. This is a letter that he wrote while serving time in the Birmingham Jail.Dr. King stated that he was invited to Birmingham, and “I am in Birmingham because injustice is here.” He describes that he did negotiate with some of the leaders of the economic community, but they broke their promises and left up all of the signs promoting segregation. He also addressed th...

This "Birmingham jail" letter by MLK, Jr. and the UN Declaration of Human Rights are the only two "required readings" across all sections of Global Ethics at my college. Today we can recall the now famous lines: "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny." The full letter is here: http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/a....I got a MLK, Jr. Award for my anti-racism work with largely "White on White...

“But though I was initially disappointed at being categorized as an extremist, as I continued to think about the matter I gradually gained a measure of satisfaction from the label. Was not Jesus an extremist for love: "Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you." Was not Amos an extremist for justice: "Let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever flowing stream." Was not Paul an

I have a reputation for writing powerful, effective letters, and I am proud to say that I have successfully fought for the rights of many individuals against the bigger society who have attempted to repress them. However, this letter is many leagues above any letter that I have ever written! It is inspiring. I wonder if there is any public record of the response from the eight clergymen to whom this open letter was addressed?My reading of this letter, on the day after Martin Luther King Jr Day (...

As many have said, it’s striking how relevant this is today. But then I realize that with 400 years of slave history and racial injustice in America, this wasn’t written all that long ago. This is free online, and I highly recommend you read it.

The sass MLK gives with the outright slaughter of racists is so pleasing ☺️

Everyone should read this at least once.

an injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere

A link is provided here for anyone who would like to read this letter: http://www.wuhsd.org/cms/lib/CA010002...Wonderful, powerful words. It's crazy to think that over 50 years later the same issues are STILL issues. "You deplore the demonstrations taking place in Birmingham. But your statement, I am sorry to say, fails so express a similar concern for the conditions that brought about the demonstrations." <----Now THAT is a point to ponder! It amazes me that those in charge have to be told that...

Letter from Birmingham Jail Love this picture of MLK smiling!Until now I had only read the most famous quotes of MLK's Letter from Birmingham Jail but I had never taken the time to read the full text. To many, along with his "I Have A Dream" speech, this letter represents King's most relevant and impactful public statement, because it came at a crucial time when both he and the Civil Rights Movement were being heavily criticized and facing lots of pressure from both the political left and the...

The perfect day to read Dr. Martin Luther King Jr's address to the eight white clergymen who called his activities in Birmingham "unwise & untimely. Dr. King has an extraordinary ability with words be they in speaking or writing. This impassioned response is one I will not forget. I do find it terribly sad that we are still have so far to go. While I found myself writing down many of his words, one caught my eye "Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute mi...

What can I say that hasn't been said already about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. as a person, his writings, and his speeches? It's all been said really.. Still I feel like I can add a little too this review.Dr. King Jr. is a man that inspires me, and has ever since I was a kid, for his eloquence, pride in his people and heritage, and fight for what he believed in. When I've gone through tough times, including sexism and racism, I've looked to him for inspiration to not lash out with violence but fi...

I don't normally read something based on the day it is, but today's page of my new book-a-day calendar was for Gospel of Freedom: Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Letter from Birmingham Jail and the Struggle That Changed a Nation and my calendar says the letter "would take its place among works by Thoreau and Lincoln as a signpost of moral argument". Well, then and there I decided I needed to read it. The letter holds many, many quotable lines (and, sadly, relevance for today) but instead of taking tho...

I read this for the first time as a whole this past MLK Day. A few amazing things struck me: I love how Dr. King starts off and then ends with a whole bit about how he usually is too damn busy to deal with the haters, but since these haters put him in jail he has time to write a really long letter. He also acknowledges in fairly humorous way how long this letter is: "Never before have I written a letter this long -- or should I say a book? ". It is of no surprise to anyone but the writing is ama...

Available online here as well as elsewhere.I've never read this before. Well, of course not, I was educated in school districts still fighting desegregation, a war they largely won: American schools are more segregated now than at any point in the last fifty or so years.My thanks to the many men, women, and children who have risked and lost their lives so that others may be free to enjoy their constitutional rights. You deserve better. Reading the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr.'s letter, knowin...

Powerful and Deep!"and in some not too distant tomorrow the radiant stars of love and brotherhood will shine over our great nation with all their scintillating beauty.""As T.J Eliot has said: The last temptation is the greatest treason: To do the right deed for the wrong reason."

"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny."Here’s the full letter:https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/...

This letter is so important and still reads to be so true and so relevant. I was assigned this for school (as well as on civil disobedience which I will be reading next) though I have read it before. It's also especially relevant because yesterday I marched in the women's march in Atlanta. I live in the 5th district in Atlanta and John Lewis is my congressman (my district is doing just fine,by the way. Don't believe everything you read in a tweet). He spoke at the march yesterday and told all of...

Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. (Kindle 21)Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote Letter from Birmingham Jail in 1963, in response to a public statement from eight White religious leaders criticizing King's civil rights activities as "unwise and untimely." I write well on computer, but am almost incoherent with pen in hand. King was thoughtful as he outlined his argument in longhand. He observed, We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppre...

How does one determine whether a law is just or unjust? A just law is a man-made code that squares with the moral law or the law of God. An unjust law is a code that is out of Harmony with the moral law. To put it in the terms of St. Thomas Aquinas: An unjust law is a human law that is not rooted in eternal law and natural law. Any law that uplifts human personality is just. Any law that degrades human personality is unjust. All segregation statutes are unjust because segregation distorts the so...