...Martin Luther King Jr. wrote his “Letter to Birmingham Jail” in a complicated time for African Americans and other ethnic groups. Due to not having the same opportunities as whites and being segregated, African Americans experienced an intense backlash to the promises once guaranteed by the Union’s victory in the Civil War. This lead to several individuals, like Martin Luther King Jr., to stand up for their Civil Rights through civil disobedience. This ultimately lead King into jail where he would write this letter. Overall, Martin Luther King Jr’s “Letter to Birmingham Jail” served to show the white church leaders, as well as the public, why his actions are just and why they should avoid criticizing what he’s trying to accomplish through...
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...Dr. Martin Luther King was an African American civil rights leader who was responsible for pushing for equal rights and equal justice. King wrote and presented many great speeches on the plight of the poor and disenfranchised black Americans. His speeches influenced many young and old black and white citizens across the United States to band together to change the segregation laws across the South. His oratory style of speaking blended southern black preaching with the truth and the writings of our founding fathers that led to the changing of millions of Americans minds. To this day Dr. King is considered to be one of history’s greatest and most influential speakers. Dr. King was invited to speak at events unaffiliated with his passion for the Civil Rights Movement, my essay compares and contrast what many consider his greatest speech entitled “I Have A Dream” with “On the Importance of Jazz”. August of 1963, Dr. King gave a speech called “I Have A Dream”, which was very powerful and influential. King claims, “now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children." (King). However, King hopes to keep equality through this nonviolent movement. He orders his fellow Negros to not have...
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...and provoke less negative reaction in the British at that time. Like Mohatma Ghandi, Martin Luther King Jr. was also an advocate and supporter of the same method of passive resistance, which he believed, was the better method at the time and situation. Martin Luther King Jr. was born in January 15, 1929 in Atlanta. He died due to assassination on a hotel balcony on April 4, 1968. Later on in his life, he became the president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference which had a purpose to provide a new leadership to the movement of Civil Rights which ideology was based on Christianity, whereas the actions and procedures more based on Gandhi; Martin Luther King Jr. practiced Mahatma Gandhi’s philosophy of non-violence. Both Mahatma Gandhi’s and Martin Luther King Jr.’s core belief and the way to attain their goals were pretty similar in a way. Mahatma Gandhi believed that with nonviolent method of fighting with the political or social issues in his times was the best way. He did it through protests for example like the March that inaugurated the Civil Disobedience which he led to the sea in order to gather salt with his followers but after which he was unfortunately arrested for protesting against the high taxation on the salt and breaking certain laws. He felt like he had to do it. He considered that law unjust which had to be violated for the better. Like Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr. did many great things in his life by implementing the...
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...The NAACP is an interest group that focuses on ensuring a society in which all individuals have equal rights without discrimination based on race (NAACP.org). The NAACP examines government policies and public agenda that may cause hindrance to the advancement of African Americans. In 1896, in a case between Plessy vs. Ferguson, the United States Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of state laws requiring racial segregation in public facilities; this decision was detrimental to our society (http://wwwi.pbs.org/wnet/imcrow/storie_events_plessy.html). In 1954 the NAACP backed the efforts of the case of Brown vs. The Board of Education, which lead to a decision that, “separate educational facilities are inherently unequal” (http://www.watson.org/~lisa/blackhistory/early-civilrights/brown.html). The monumental impact of this case is still widely demonstrated today. The government policy of affirmative action is undoubtedly a useful tool in the efforts of the NAACP. In 1971 the NAACP backed the efforts of the case of Griggs vs. Duke Power Company; a decision was made that reflected the policy of fair treatment by affirmative action (lcrm.lib.unc.edu/blog/index.php/2012/03/08/remembering-griigs-v.-duke-power-company/). Today there are some who support the policy of affirmative action, and some who are opposed, and some who feel we needed affirmative action at one time but now are no longer in need of it. In 2009 the plaintiffs of the case of Ricci vs. DeStefano sued the city...
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...11/28/2011 Driving Miss Daisy At the 62nd Academy awards Driving Miss Daisy received a total of four awards out of nine nominations. Driving Miss Daisy also won three Golden Globe Awards, and went on to win Best Adapted Screenplay at the 1989 Writers Guild of America. Jessica Tandy who played Daisy Werthan (Miss Daisy) and Morgan Freeman who played Hoke Colburn (Miss Daisy’s chauffeur) won the Silver Bear for the Best Joint Performance at the 40th Berlin International Film Festival. Driving Miss Daisy was also the last Best Picture winner to date to receive a Pg rating and is the only film based on an off Broadway Production ever to win an Academy Award for Best Picture. Actress Jessica Tandy,81 , became both the oldest winner and the oldest nominee in history of the Best Actress category. This film gives some great examples of patience,kindness ,dedication, racism , prejudice and dignity in a very difficult time and situation. Driving Miss Daisy is a comedy-drama film that came from Alfred Urhy’s play Driving Miss Daisy. Opening weekend (17 December 1989) Driving Miss Daisy brought in $73.745 the movie grossed $145,793,296. Some of the filming locations were Atlanta, Georgia,Decatur ,Georgia and Douglasville ,Georgia. Overcoming racial prejudice is an important theme in the movie along with growing older, and the importance of friendship. You are also Reminded of the situation in the south, During the time of the civil rights movement. The years 1948-1973...
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...waged daily by subordinate groups is, like infrared rays, beyond the visible end of the spectrum. That it should be invisible is in large part by design- a tactical choice born of a prudent awareness of the balance of power.” We need look past the obvious and question “what aren’t we seeing or hearing?” In reaching an understanding of these infrapolitics, we are able to identify with the oppressed people in political history and find motives in their actions, specifically in the events of the Civil Rights Movement. However, when considering the Civil Rights Movement, we must think of it not as a single event in history, but as a mass of small-scale movements. Instead of associating with the idolized figures in history such as Martin Luther King Jr, Kelly opens our minds to the political effect of the everyday oppressed African American, and exposes relatable “activists” in history. Kelly describes how these African Americans were able to resist to their inequality in their everyday lives by doing things other than the typical marches, petitions, sit ins, but had alternative forms of protest. These...
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...King: Pilgrimage to the Mountaintop Martin Luther King Jr.’s life and the Civil Rights Movement in America are alternative beats of the same heart. In his overall fight against racism, the important landmarks were the Montgomery bus boycott, the March on Washington; anti-Vietnam War Activism and Assassination in the year 1968, Dr. King emerged as a sterling crusader. He was the living legend and glorious in death. He was intensely loved and fiercely hated. In his book, “Pilgrimage to the Mountaintop,” Harvard Sitkoff writes, “I have to craft a brief yet stirring narrative for a twenty-first-century readership that illustrates the historical forces that shaped King, and how he, in turn, changed American society.”(xiv) Black freedom movement was a tough socio-political responsibility for Dr. King, and his adversaries belonged to the powerful ruling class, reluctant to give any concessions to the blacks. He led the movement at great personal sacrifice and suffering. Sitkoff writes, “ However overwrought or sometimes paralyzed by fear he became, King’s biblical faith enabled him to keep his eyes on the prize, to put righteousness before expediency, despite the beatings, jailing, inner turmoil, and constant threats if assassination.”(xiv) Unprecedented changes began to happen in United States and King’s mission paved way for a broader crusade against imperialism and of economic inequality by the time of his death and subsequently thereon. The forces that were bitterly...
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...subject at hand. In his “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. attempts to establish an adequate definition of “just” and “unjust” laws. King knew he could not directly argue his beliefs of segregation because the clergymen made clear they were not impressed with anti-segregationists breaking the law. He knew in order to make a valid rebuttal he could not cause confrontation. What is most interesting about the letter is the style of writing King uses to argue for righteousness which compels the reader to share his views of anti-segregation. In the beginning of the letter, King writes “My Dear Fellow Clergymen” to address them in a warm, welcoming way. Also, the use of the word “fellow” puts King and the clergymen together in a sense, making the letter less of an attack. Because of this, the letter is set up to be intimate instead of just an argument against the clergymen. King continues to say that the clergymen are “men of genuine good will” with criticisms “sincerely set forth.” By giving them this acknowledgement, King makes the reader understand he is not attacking the clergymen. Attacking these religious men in the beginning of the letter could have potentially lost him the respect of the readers. In paragraph three, King states “just as the Apostle Paul left his village…so am I compelled to carry the gospel of freedom beyond my own home town.” By comparing himself to the Apostle Paul, King furthers his claim that he is in jail because of an unjust...
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...The Power of Tone When reciting a speech, there are many writing strategies that add value to the words you portray. Among others, there is rhythm, parallelism and humor. Yet the most important aspect to your writing seems to be the use of tone. In their speeches, William Shakespeare and Malcolm X use different tones, appropriate for their cause, to get their point across more effectively. In Brutus’ speech, written by Shakespeare, he talks with a fake sympathy for the death of Julius Caesar. Antony’s speech, also by Shakespeare, uses a truer compassionate tone towards the death of his dear friend, but sarcastic towards the “honorable” Brutus. In The Ballot or the Bullet, Malcolm X shows a disappointed and angry tone directed at the African Americans who aren’t showing initiative to better their lives. Brutus, after having committed a crime of a tremendous scale, tried to escape punishment by justifying the murder with a later disproved excuse. His claim: Caesar was ambitious. For unknown reasons Brutus, accompanied by his comrades, had killed Caesar. Now to reinforce his false claim, Brutus talked with an exceedingly convincing sympathy. In his speech, he claims “If there be any in this assembly, any dear friend of Caesar’s, to him I say that Brutus’ love to Caesar was no less than his.” If Brutus had talked portraying no sadness, no sympathy, the event would have turned out very differently. Had Brutus just said Caesar was ambitious, without pointing out their close friendship...
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...Asa Philip Randolph (April 15, 1889 – May 16, 1979) was a leader in the African American civil-rights movement and the American labor movement. Randolph was born April 15, 1889, in Crescent City, Florida, the second son of the Rev. James William Randolph, a tailor and minister in the African Methodist Episcopal Church, and Elizabeth Robinson Randolph, a skilled seamstress. Randolph attended the Cookman Institute in East Jacksonville, for years the only academic high school in Florida for African Americans. Randolph excelled in literature, drama and public speaking. He also starred on the school's baseball team, sang solos with its choir and was valedictorian of the 1907 graduating class. After graduation, Randolph worked odd jobs and devoted his time to singing, acting and reading. Reading W. E. B. Du Bois' The Souls of Black Folk convinced him that the fight for social equality was most important. At the age of 21 in 1910, Randolph joined the Socialist Party of America. He moved to New York City in 1911 where he met Chandler Owen who shared Randolph's intellectual interests and close collaborator. In 1913, Randolph married Mrs. Lucille Campbell Green who also shared his socialist views. With the help of the Socialist Party Of America Randolph and Chandler Owen founded the Messenger, a radical monthly magazine, which campaigned against lynching, opposed U.S. participation in World War I, urged African Americans to resist being drafted, to fight for an integrated society, and recommended...
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...ordinance. After word of this incident reached the black community, 50 African- American leaders gathered and organized the Montgomery Bus Boycott to protest the segregation of blacks and whites on public buses. With the support of most of Montgomery's 50,000 blacks, the boycott lasted for 381 days until the local laws segregating African-Americans and whites on public buses was lifted. Ninety percent of African Americans in Montgomery took part in the boycotts, which reduced bus revenue by 80%. A federal court ordered Montgomery's buses desegregated in November 1956, and the boycott ended in triumph. A young Baptist minister named Martin Luther King, Jr., was president of the Montgomery Improvement Association, the organization that directed the boycott. The protest made King a national figure. A Baptist minister, King became a civil rights activist early in his career....
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...Malcom X who was a Civil Rights Activist was born on May 19, 1925 in Omaha, Nebraska as Malcolm Little. Malcolm was the fourth of seven children to Earl Little and Louise Norton. Because of Earl Little's civil rights activism, the Little family was faced with much harassment from the Ku Klux Klan.This caused them to move from Omaha to East Lansing, Michigan. Malcolm X attended West Junior High School, where he was the school's only black student.He was liked by many and excelled academically in all of his classes.But in the year 1939, a white teacher told him that his dreams of being a lawyer were "no realistic goal for a nigger." After being told that, he found no real point to continue his schooling and dropped out the next year at age fifteen. After being arrested at 21 years old and being sent to prison, Malcolm began many transformations.While there, he joined the Nation of Islam and became a pastor. during his time in prison, Malcolm adopted all of their religious beliefs and worked to educate himself more. This is what changed Malcolm into who we now know in todays life. Malcolm X is known for raising the self-esteem of black Americans and reconnecting them with their African heritage. He is responsible for the spread of Islam in the black community in the United States. Malcolm was appointed as a minister and national spokesman for the Nation of Islam.His attitude, willingness,and faithfulness is what attracted an astounding number of new members. Malcolm was...
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...Martin Luther King once said that “non-violence is a just and powerful weapon; a sword that heals; it cuts without wounding and ennobles the man who wields it.” Nov violence is more effective than violent confrontations in the fight for justice, fairness and equality. The use of violence to fight for justice in most cases escalate to the point where the fighters remaining agenda is vengeance, victory and self-defense. When violence is the tool for getting justice, any moral arguments of the people fighting for justice are rendered irrelevant. Having used violent means, the opponent is justified to retaliate violently. The irony in all these is that each side of the divide is usually able to argue as to who started the violence (Miller 2005). The use of violence usually leads to the loss of innocent lives, the destruction of property, and in most instances, do not achieve the objective that it set out to achieve. Non-violence methods, such as those castigated by Martin Luther King and Mahatma Gandhi try to avoid this trap by evading any violent confrontations. Far from being termed as cowardice, non-violence requires tremendous self-control, courage and a ready heart to endure pain, suffering and death. Non-violent strategies dwell on the strength that they reduce the moral legitimacy of those who persist in their use of violence against non-violence. This loss of legitimacy is a double sword in that it leads to efforts in coalition building that eventually leads to the condemnation...
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...Martin Luther King, Jr.: His Life and Battle for Freedom Allan M. Ysunza Kaplan University SS310 Exploring the 1960s: An Interdisciplinary Approach Dr. Ronald K. Bolender March 09, 2010 Martin Luther King, Jr.: His Life and Battle for Freedom In my unit 5 project I will discuss the life of Martin Luther King Jr. I will define how his personal ideologies might have contributed to his assassination. I will discuss the implications of his assassinations from a sociological perspective. All through the discussions, I will explore his life and journey as freedom leader and his will to gain justice via nonviolent and peaceful protest against racial discrimination and oppressions. Martin Luther King Jr. was born on January 15, 1929 in Atlanta, Georgia. He was destined to be a preacher like his father and after seminary became the pastor of Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama at the age of 25. King believed that black and white people should resist laws that they thought unjust. If necessary, he thought, they should disobey such laws. But King also said that they should be ready to accept punishment for breaking such laws. In some cases, they should even go to jail. He had grown up with the injustices in the South, and it did not take him long to join in the fight. He led the Montgomery Bus Boycott in 1955 in response to Rosa Parks’ arrest for refusing to give up her seat. He was arrested, but ultimately ended racial segregation on...
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...Johnson Dec. 9, 2013 Nonviolent Movements, Effective Results Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter From Birmingham Jail” is a response to criticism from American clergymen about demonstrations in Birmingham. It is among the world’s canon of the most influential writings. He successfully informs his fellow clergymen of the importance of African Americans gaining rights through nonviolent methods. He also speaks eloquently of the difference between just and unjust laws, which lies in the equality of rights. The 1960s were trying times for African Americans due to intense segregation. Despite these difficulties, Dr. King was able to respond with nonviolent methods. These methods are considered very praiseworthy as such a nonviolent response, particularly with such profound effects, is very rare in human society. Dr. King’s nonviolent approach for achieving equal rights, not only helps society make considerable progress on achieving equality, but also enlightens future societies to go for equality in a peaceful manner. According to Dr. King, the difference between just and unjust laws is whether or not everybody has equal rights; similarly, whether or not the law in question uplifts the human spirit. As Dr. King claims: “Any law that uplifts human personality is just. Any law that degrades human personality is unjust” (King 3). African Americans were forced to face intense segregation and had to witness their friends and family members be subjected to abuse and humiliation...
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