He recalls for them that African Americans sought the aid of politicians, but with the likes of Bull Conner and Albert Boutwell, his people saw two different faces of the same man, both of which were virulently opposed to equality and justice for the African American people.

He reminds them that everything Hitler did was “legal,” though unquestionably immoral, and anyone of character and intestinal fortitude would have fought against it, as they should fight the systemic oppression of the marginalized in our nation. He advises his colleagues that African Americans sought relief through the courts, which upheld and enforced laws that were unnatural and immoral. How, he asks incredulously, can you not expect a people who have had every door shut in their face to take direct action against their systemic oppression? Every avenue was traveled, and every other means was exhausted, he explains. King – in the parlance of our time – read them for filth. Essentially they said to him “now is not the time to politicize this,” while offering thoughts and prayers. King and the African American people should “wait” for equality, insisting that freedom would arrive in its due time. Those supposed friends of the Movement felt that Dr. King and his contemporaries used in their fight for civil rights. The letter was a reply to fellow clergy who, while espousing ally-ship, questioned the means Dr. King while he was incarcerated for spearheading a peaceful protest in Birmingham, Alabama. For those unfamiliar with the missive, it was written by Dr. One need look no further than his Letter from Birmingham Jail. Anyone responsible for this ongoing identity theft disserves him and dishonors his memory. King was a radical figure whose words and actions have been desalinated to make him more palatable to the American public. Though much has been written, it is not widely accepted that Dr. That picture is intentionally incomplete, and wholly devoid of any brushstroke that would depict him for what he truly was: radical to his core. The picture we are too often presented is one of a placid and rhetorically proficient social justice warrior, who through nonviolence sought to placate America into mending its racial divide. However, the man we celebrate is not the man who was. and used the day to retell of his efforts to realize racial and social justice in America.

For roughly the past forty years the country has celebrated the birthday of Dr.

Dr king letter from birmingham jail