MLK: The Reason

Martin Luther King Jr.'s 'Letter from a Birmingham jail,' is a very insightful and well-written document. He vividly expresses his opinions while adequately answering his critics questions. The introduction 'My Dear Fellow Clergymen,' is very important because it tells everyone that he is referring to the religious philosophers of this time. King eludes to many religious themes in this document, For example, 'Just as the prophets of the eighth century B.C. left their villages and carried their "thus saith the Lord" far beyond the boundaries of their home towns.' I think that this use of religion is very clever, because it shows that what he is doing, was done before. Therefore, he should not be penalized for doing something that was originally done in the Bible. I believe the most important paragraph in this essay is when he was answering the question, 'why direct action?' King explicitly explained why he would have to enforce direct action, e.g. "you see the vast majority of your twenty million Negro brothers smothering in an airtight cage of poverty in the midst of an affluent society." All in all, this is a very moving and inspiring piece of work, that surely changed the mindsets of many racist folks of this time.