ShmoopTube

00:05

Letter from Birmingham Jail, a la Shmoop. In your English and literature classes…

00:10

…you’ve surely read your fair share of novels, poems, stories and plays.

00:15

But a letter?!

00:16

What’s next… an office memo?

00:18

Believe it or not, there have been some pretty powerful and influential letters written in

00:23

our nation’s history.

00:25

One man who really knew how to string a series of words together was Dr. Martin Luther King,

00:30

Jr.

00:31

Whether the words were coming out of his mouth or out of his pen…

00:34

…he knew how to stir emotion, and how to move people to action.

00:38

First, let’s be clear… King wasn’t in jail because he had been caught breaking and

00:43

entering, or because he wasn’t keeping up with alimony payments.

00:46

He had been marching against racial segregation.

00:49

While in jail, he wrote this letter.

00:52

It was in response to the “Call to Unity,” a statement made by a number of Birmingham

00:56

clergymen who felt it was wrong of King to demonstrate and stir up trouble in the streets

01:01

to get his point across. But King wasn’t about to let them… rain

01:10

on his parade. Besides, the black community wasn’t really given any more… peaceable

01:15

options.

01:17

In his letter, King insisted that when it came to unjust laws…

01:21

…it was the people’s moral obligation to see that they were eradicated, by whatever

01:27

non-violent methods they deemed most appropriate or effective.

01:32

So, basically… no one was going to tell him he couldn’t protest against something

01:36

he didn’t believe was right.

01:38

You tell ‘em, Doc. King wrote, “Injustice anywhere is a threat

01:43

to justice everywhere.

01:44

“We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of

01:51

destiny.

01:52

“Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly…

01:56

“Anyone who lives inside the United States can never be considered an outsider…”

02:02

His words were a bit much for some people to swallow at first…

02:06

…but they certainly had an impact.

02:08

The letter was published in the New York Post…

02:10

…and later in King’s book Why We Can’t Wait.

02:13

It became incredibly popular, and was passed around, copied, and quoted for years to come.

02:19

It went a long way in swaying the minds of those struggling with the issue…

02:22

…and maybe planted a seed or two of doubt in the minds of even the most rigidly stubborn

02:27

individuals. Without a doubt, it is one of the most significant

02:31

works ever to come out of a jail cell.

02:33

That is, if you don’t count the letter “How Much Longer Until Bubba and I Get a Chance

02:37

to Use the Community Bathroom?” by Inmate 43872.

02:41

Strangely, that letter was also published in a book entitled Why We Can’t Wait.

Full Transcript