Martin Luther King Jr.'s Letter To Birmingham

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Over the course of the eight days that Martin Luther King Jr. was in jail in Birmingham, Alabama, he wrote a letter in a response to a newspaper article regarding his recent protest. He addressed the letter to a national audience in hopes that this would make a major impact on the civil rights movement. The letter gave people courage and hope for a better future, and not just in America, but also in many other countries. King’s letter was translated into dozens of other languages so it could affect as big of an audience as possible. One of the focuses of the letter was his disappointment with the church because of their lack of support of the civil rights movement. He says in the letter, “I’m deep disappointment I have wept over the laxity…show more content…
About two weeks later there was a march down the streets that consisted of children and teenagers, all of which were arrested in this peaceful protest where they sang “We Shall Overcome”. The jails were packed full and there was no more space to hold protesters, and knowing this they made sure to send out more the next day to make a statement. Over a thousand children and teenagers came to the parade the next day, although most were fearful of their lives and ran away. They were fearful because the local firefighters had taken out the water hoses and were blasting people who were trying to march. One particular group stood still and were thrown to the ground and rolled down the street by the pressure of the water hoses. The media reporting this caught the images of the horrific scene and everyone was keeping up with what Martin Luther King was doing in Birmingham. The jails became too full and the police were unsure of what to do at this point because they were afraid of the riots that would break out eventually. They decided to desegregate public areas such as lunch counters, and also hired more people of color. This was a victory of King’s because it showed that their protest was a success. His Letter From Birmingham played a crucial role in this achievement because of the way he addressed the people

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