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April 16, 2013

Today Marks 50th Anniversary of MLK’s "Letter from a Birmingham Jail" 
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Today marks the 50th anniversary of Dr. Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s
"Letter from a Birmingham Jail." The letter was written as a response to
white Alabama clergy who criticized King’s actions during the
Birmingham Campaign, a series of nonviolent sit-ins and marches held to
protest racial segregation. This is Dr. King reading part of the letter
he wrote in jail after he was arrested for defying a judge's ban on
protests.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.: "You speak of our activity in Birmingham as
extreme. 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.' Will we be extremists
for the preservation of injustice or for the extension of justice?"

 

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