“Letter from Birmingham Jail” Annotation

Author: Martin Luther King, Jr.

Where: Birmingham City Jail

When: April 16, 1963

Brief Overview: While confined in Birmingham City jail, Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote a letter addressed to his fellow clergymen in response to their criticism of his work and ideology. Throughout the letter, he makes clear that his actions were well thought out and quite frankly necessary in both time and manner.

Important Vocabulary: Gainsay, meaning to deny or contradict a fact or statement. Moratorium, meaning a temporary prohibition of an activity. Gadfly, meaning an annoying person, especially one who provokes others into action by criticism. Reinhold Niebuhr, an American Protestant theologian who had extensive influence on political thought and whose criticism of the prevailing theological liberalism of the 1920s significantly affected the intellectual climate within American Protestantism. Interposition, meaning the action of interposing someone or something. Clarion, meaning loud and clear. Ekklesia, meaning a particular body of faithful people, and the whole body of the faithful. Scintillating, meaning sparkling or shinning brightly.

Questions: How can the contemporary church, both as a body of people and as individual members, work more diligently to remove themselves from the bounds of the status quo? Are there any situations in which doing the right deed for the wrong reasons is commendable?

Noteworthy Quotes: “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” “Anyone who lives inside the United States can never be considered an outsider anywhere within its bounds.” “It is unfortunate that demonstrations are taking place in Birmingham, but it is even more unfortunate that the city’s white power structure left the Negro community with no alternative.” “But I must confess that I am not afraid of the word ‘tension.’ I have earnestly opposed violent tension, but there is a type of constructive, nonviolent tension which is necessary for growth.” “Lamentably, it is an historical fact that privileged groups seldom give up their privileges voluntarily.” “One has not only a legal but a moral responsibility to obey just laws. Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws. I would agree with St. Augustine that ‘an unjust law is no law at all.'” “We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the hateful words and actions of the bad people but for the appalling silence of the good people.” “So often the contemporary church is a weak, ineffectual voice with an uncertain sound. So often it is an arch defender of the status quo.”

Initial Reaction: Although in the past Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail” had been referenced to or cited in other works, I had never read the entirety of his letter, and can now confess I have done myself a great disservice in neglecting to do so. His letter is both eloquently written and efficient, both beautiful and concise. By refraining to lose himself in hysteria or tangents (although he would have had every right to do so), Martin Luther King, Jr. effectively makes his argument for direct action, breaking unjust laws, and extremist love. His letter is powerful by all accounts, and deserves the praise and recognition it has received.