Analysis of “I Have a Dream” and “Letter to Birmingham Jail” In the “Letter to Birmingham Jail” Martin Luther King addresses the criticisms and objections that the white clergymen had made towards his and his affiliated organization’s efforts in trying to end segregation and achieve his and his people’s birth right: the right to be free through nonviolent means. Through the “I Have a Dream Speech” King speaks to his supporters and as well as to the entire nation to make them be fully aware of the injustices they are facing and through this make them stand up to those injustices. Both “Letter to Birmingham Jail” and “I Have a Dream Speech” have the same underlying meaning however. That way too long have the black community been treated wrongly. That way too long have the black nation been “judged by the color of their skin rather than the content of their character (King 815)” and therefore it is time for them to rise and stand up for their rights.
The MIA(Montgomery Improvement Association) was formed with Martin Luther King as president. Leaflets were passed around the black community urging them to stop using the bus services. The effect was immense, with countless buses in Montgomery empty. An MIA meeting of 7000 was held in Holt Street Baptist Church, where it was decided that the boycott would continue. At that meeting Martin Luther King gave an inspiring speech that spread the boycott further among blacks.
Summary Response-Letter from the Birmingham Jail In this letter, Martin Luther King Jr. describes the current states of injustice and inequality that plague the Negro community during this time as he is writing from his jail cell. He writes to his fellow supporters and brothers and explains the reasons for being in Birmingham in the first place were because he felt it was necessary to protest injustice everywhere. Communities such as Birmingham were known to observe segregation laws that isolated black people from white people and in his opinion were classified as unjust laws. He claims to be a supporter of just laws and a non-violent protestor of unjust laws in which violate human morals and dignity. By citing references of protest such as Jesus Christ, St. Paul, Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln, he justifies his current actions for the Negro community and states that he is willing to face the consequences when it comes to protesting for equal rights amongst all Americans.
On April 3, King addressed a rally and delivered his "I've Been to the Mountaintop" address at Mason Temple, the world headquarters of the Church of God in Christ. King's flight to Memphis had already been delayed by a bomb threat against his plane. On the evening of April 4, 1968, while standing on the balcony of his motel room, where he was to lead a protest march in sympathy with striking garbage workers of that city, he was assassinated with a gunshot in his face. King's main legacy was to secure progress on civil rights in the United States, which has allowed more Americans to reach their potential. He is frequently referenced as a human rights icon today.
Address at the Conclusion of the Selma to Montgomery March Question: In his speech, what did Martin Luther King attribute the root of racism too? Preliminary answer: On March 25, 1965, Martin Luther King, Jr. led thousands of men and women on a 54-mile march from Selma to Montgomery Albama. The march, which represented Dr. King’s ideology of nonviolence, was the culmination of a three-month campaign to eliminate African American disenfranchisement in Alabama.King gave his defiant speech while standing on the steps of the Alabama State Capitol in Montgomery, a city known as the "Cradle of the Confederacy." This was the high-water mark of the civil rights movement. The Selma campaign would spark the passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act.Our whole campaign in Alabama has been centered around the right to vote.
In April 1963, King led a campaign in Birmingham and discrimination in hiring. While the followers and him were on a peaceful march toward city hall but the police turned fire hoses on them and then arrested them. While being in prison King wrote his “Letter from Birmingham City Jail,” which explains his philosophy of nonviolent resistance. Later that year, King gave his famous “I have a dream” speech where he expressed his faith that someday, everyone would be treated equally. During a 1968 trip to Memphis, Tennessee, King was assassinated.
The images of Alabama law enforcement beating the nonviolent protesters were shown all over the country and the world by television networks and newspapers. The visuals of such brutality being carried out by the state of Alabama helped shift the image of the segregationist movement from one of a movement trying to preserve the social order of the South to a system of state-endorsed terrorism against non-whites. [23] The marches also had a powerful effect in Washington. After witnessing TV coverage of "Bloody Sunday," President Lyndon Baines Johnson met with Governor George Wallace in Washington to discuss with him the civil rights situation in his state. He tried to persuade Wallace to stop the state harassment of the protesters.
Leading the boycott effort was a young Reverend Martin Luther King, pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery. The boycott lasted over a year and ended on November 13, 1956 when the U.S. Supreme court ruled that the Montgomery segregation law was
His story gave many African Americans hope. All could see that he rose out of the shadows of nothing so why couldn’t they do the same? All black men, women, and children came together to overcome one thing; racism. Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. were a significant peace to the puzzle because they had the power to unite people into one cause. Without these men’s ideas of non-violence retaliation the black race would not have been seen as the victim, instead the problem.
-1959: Dr.King resigned as pastor of the Dexter Avenue Babtist Church to work on civil rights full time and to direct the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). -1960: Martin Luther King Jr. became co-paster of the Ebenezer Baptist Church with his father. -1960: He was arrested during a protest at a restuarant and sentenced to four months in jail. He was released after John and Roberet Kennedy came to help. -1961: The first Freedom Ride through the South took place by CORE, Congress for Racial Equality.