Understanding MLK's 'Letter From a Birmingham Jail

Name: Understanding MLK's 'Letter From a Birmingham Jail
Brand: Academic Documents Platform
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Author: Daniel Miller

A collaborative annotation-sharing site for analyzing MLK’s Letter from a Birmingham Jail, helping students explore connections, challenges, key concepts, and personal reflections. Ideal for group work, literature study, and civic understanding.

Daniel Miller

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Letter from a Birmingham Jail Annotations
Directions.
1. As a group, jointly annotate the document using the 4 questions below.
2. Put your initials next to each of your annotations. I should see evidence of each
member's contribution The expectation is that each member will have several
annotations.
3. You may want to use a different color for each question, e g . Connections in red,
Challenge in blue. etc.
Connections, What coniwcD'ocB do you draw between the text and your
own II fe or votir other learning?
Challenge; What Ideas ptHthcins. or astumptioM do you want to cMIenflf at
argue with in the text?
Concepts; What key concents or ideas d o you think are important and worth
holding on to from the t«i?
Changes: What fhnn, In attitudes. thinking. or action are wggestfd fry I h r
text, elthrr Icc you or cithers1'
Exemplar

Letter From a Birmingham Jail
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote his famous "Letter From a Birmingham Jail" on April 16,
1963. from the city jail in Birmingham, Ala. King had been arrested for participating in a
non-violent protest with the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights and the
Southern Christian Leadership Conference.
AUTHOR DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.
Leiter From a Birmingham Jail Teaching Tolerance
Juliaiuia Kelley, Sarita Kelkar, Jack Cieslowski
Letter From a Birmingham Jail Group Annotations
Birmingham City Jail
April 16, 1963
My dear Fellow Clergymen,
While confined here in the Birmingham City
Jail, I came across your recent statement calling
our present activities ''unwise and untimely."
Seldom, if even do I pause to answer criticism of
my work and ideas. If I sought to answer all the
criticisms that cross my desk, my secretaries
would be engaged in little else in the course of
the day and I would have no time for
constructive work. But since I feel that you are
men of genuine goodwill and your criticisms are
sincerely set forth, I would like to answer your
statement in what I hope will be patient and
reasonable terms.
I think I should give the reason for my being in
Birmingham, since you have been influenced by
the argument of "outsiders coming in." I have
- MLK usually doesn't respond to
criticism, stating that he
receives so much that it would
consume his and his secretaries'
entire day, highlighting the
enormous amount of backlash
and criticism that he received
for his views. (JC)
- He also does not consider
responding to criticism to be
"constructive work," showing
that he is far more interest in
jumping into direct action rather
than defending his views to the
many people that disagreed with
him at the time. (JC)
- Divide between MLK and other
members of the Church: internal
critique in the Black communitv
(SK)
- MLK refers to the phrase
"outsiders coming in", which
reminds me of the current day
common phrase "go back to
your country” .Both of these

the honor of serving as president of tlie Southern
Christian Leadership Conference, an
organization operating in every Southern state
with headquarters m Atlanta, Georgia. We have
some 85 affiliate organizations all across the
South - one being the Alabama Christian
Movement for Human Rights. Whenever
necessary and possible we share staff
educational, and financial resources with our
affiliates. Several months ago our local affiliate
here in Birmingham invited us to be on call to
engage in a nonviolent direct action program if
such were deemed necessary. We readily
consented and when the hour came w e lived up
to our promises. So I am here, along with several
members of my staff because we were invited
here. I am here because I have basic
organizational ties here. [...]
Moreover, I am cognizant of the interrelatedness
of all communities and states.
in Atlanta and not be concerned about what
comments are exclusionary and
refer to others as outsiders,
someone who doesn't belong
(IK)
- How injustice in one area
matters in another: allowing
injustice to continue in one area
is as bad as not taking action at
all (SK)
- Makes me wonder about what
this fully extends to: would rival
nations who want to cause harm
to the US also be welcome
inside its borders? Or is MLK
solelv referring to innocent
folk?(JK)
appeij s Sirrr. : z an:, [justice a ’.yv. :ere s a
are
an inescapable network of mutuality tied in a
single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one
directly affects all indirectly. Never again can we
afford to live with the narrow, provincial
'outside agitator' idea. Anyone who lives inside
the United States can never be considered an
outsider anywhere in this country'.
You deplore the demonstrations that are
presently taking place in Birmingham. But I am
sorry that your statement did not express a
similar concern for the conditions that brought

the demonstrations into being. I am sure that
each of you would want to go beyond the
superficial social analyst who looks merely at
effects, and does not grapple with underlying
causes. I would not hesitate to say that it is
unfortunate that so-called demonstrations are
taking place in Birmingham at this time, but I
would say in more emphatic terms that
more unfortunate that th.: white power structure
of this city left the Negro community w. th nc
otl
In any nonviolent campaign there are four basic
steps: 1} collection of the facts to determine
whether injustices are alive: 2) negotiation: 3)
self-purification; and 4) direct action. We have
gone through all of these steps in Birmingham.
There can be no gainsaying of the fact that racial
injustice engulfs this community. Birmingham is
probably the most thoroughly segregated city in
the United States. Its ugly record of police
brutality is known in every7 section of this
country. Its unjust treatment of Negroes in the
courts is a notorious reality7
. There have been
more unsolved bombings of Negro homes and
churches in Birmingham than any city- in this
nation. These are the hard, brutal, and
unbelievable facts. On the basis of these
conditions Negro leaders sought to negotiate
with the city fathers. But the political leaders
consistently refused to engage in good faith
negotiation. [...]
You may well ask, Wrhy direct action? Why
sit-ins, marches, etc.? Isn't negotiation abetter
path?" You are exactly right in your call for
How systematic, occurrences
limit the options of the Black
community to take action;
power decreases as the structure
continues (SK)
How Birmingham has been well
known in terms of its police
brutality and howr they treat
other races. Connects to much
of the BLM movements in the
recent years, although the police
brutality and inequality was
most likely much more brutal
(JK)
MLK presents his method to
creating change via nonviolent
campaign but discusses how it
is not as effective due to the fact
that no political leaders are
willing to talk to him and
negotiate. This reveals one of
that these political leaders were
repressing the community7 and

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Understanding MLK's 'Letter From a Birmingham Jail

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