#letter from Birmingham jail

[dontmean2bepoliticalbut]

[readingsquotes]

"I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate. I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negroes' great stumbling block in the stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen's "Counciler" or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate who is more devoted to "order" than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says "I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I can't agree with your methods of direct action"; who paternalistically feels that he can set the timetable for another man's freedom; who lives by the myth of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait until a "more convenient season." “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” Martin Luther King Jr.  via Learning for Justice site

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

More on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail.”

Many readers sent notes saying that they read MLK’s Letter from a Birmingham Jail after I linked to it in the newsletter on MLK Day earlier this week. Everyone who wrote to me said they were moved and impressed by Dr. King’s message. One reader, Nancy C., sent a note with a link to a story explaining how Dr. King wrote the Letter from a Birmingham Jail.  

As Dr. King sat in jail, eight ministers published a letter rebuking his non-violent movement. He decided to respond. Here is what happened next, in the words of Willie Pearl Mackey King, who served as a receptionist / typist for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference:

Dr. King decided that he was going to write an answer. He was in jail, and he asked the jailers for pen and paper. They said, “You’re not in a library! You don’t get anything to write with.” He wrote on the edges of newspaper, on toilet paper, on sandwich bags. His attorney Clarence Jones hid the scraps under his suit jacket and slipped them out of the jail. We had to put together this jigsaw puzzle. We were on the floor, trying to figure it out, Scotch-taping things together. Dr. King’s handwriting was not the best. The lighting was terrible in his jail cell. I was not allowed to leave the office for three days and two nights. I typed this document on an IBM Selectric typewriter, not a computer where you could cut and paste. If I made a mistake, I had to redo everything. [¶] That is how we developed the “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” When we released it, no one paid attention at first. Only when Bull Connor [the city’s commissioner of public safety] ordered fire hoses and dogs onto the demonstrators in Birmingham’s Kelly Ingram Park did we start getting requests for the “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” I could not mimeograph enough copies.

If you haven’t had a chance to read Letter from Birmingham Jail, the week honoring Dr. King’s birthday is a good time to do so!

[Robert B. Hubbell Newsletter]

[187days]

Day Sixty-Eight

One big thing that every new teacher has to learn is effective classroom management. As a department head, I've been trying to help the rookies when I can. I've had chats with both Mr. V and Mr. Q recently, listened to what they're experiencing, made some suggestions. I'm always worried if I'm doing enough, or giving the right advice... Hopefully, I am!

Meantime, I'm combatting second quarter slump in my own classes. The Religion/Philosophy Essay is proving quite effective for that in Global Studies. Students are working hard because- as they've told me- they're feeling like they can succeed at something they'd thought would be really difficult. So that's excellent. And in APGOV, the content's just so cool. Today's lesson was about the desegregation campaign in Birmingham, and included Martin Luther King Jr's "Letter from Birmingham Jail." Attention spans frayed towards the end of the block, so not everyone finished reading, but I figured that would probably happen. We'll pick up with a discussion about it on Monday.

What else?

There was a whole school meeting during advisory today. We have either class meetings or whole school meetings once a month; this was the first school wide meeting. Student leaders set the agenda and ran it themselves. They started by recognizing various student achievements, did a club spotlight (on Key Club), discussed positive cheering in the student section at our winter sports events, and then gave each grade instructions to record a video message for a teacher who is currently receiving cancer treatment. I thought it was good stuff, and was happy it went well.

Track practice went well, too. It's picture day, so practice was shorter than usual. We had just enough time to warm up, do a few 40m dashes, and- to the team's delight (heh)- a core workout because Fridays are for core. The sprinters told me I had way too much fun calling out the exercises, which is probably true!

[linusjf]

Martin Luther King, Jr: Deep

“There can be no deep disappointment where there is not deep love.” —Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968), U.S. clergyman, civil rights leader. “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” Why We Can’t Wait (1963).

[queervegancryptid]

I read this in high school, about 20 years ago. I read it again today.

It's a long letter, but it's important.

Two quotes I copy-pasted that stick with me:

"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."

and

"The question is not whether we will be extremists, but what kind of extremists we will be. Will we be extremists for hate or for love? Will we be extremists for the preservation of injustice or for the extension of justice?"

[meteorologistaustenlonek]

"We have waited for more than 340 years for our constitutional and God given rights. The nations of Asia and Africa are moving with jetlike speed toward gaining political independence, but we still creep at horse and buggy pace toward gaining a cup of coffee at a lunch counter. Perhaps it is easy for those who have never felt the stinging darts of segregation to say, “Wait.” But when you have seen vicious mobs lynch your mothers and fathers at will and drown your sisters and brothers at whim; when you have seen hate filled policemen curse, kick and even kill your black brothers and sisters; when 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; when you suddenly find your tongue twisted and your speech stammering as you seek to explain to your six year old daughter why she can’t go to the public amusement park that has just been advertised on television, and see tears welling up in her eyes when she is told that Funtown is closed to colored children, and see ominous clouds of inferiority beginning to form in her little mental sky, and see her beginning to distort her personality by developing an unconscious bitterness toward white people; when you have to concoct an answer for a five year old son who is asking: “Daddy, why do white people treat colored people so mean?”; when you take a cross county drive and find it necessary to sleep night after night in the uncomfortable corners of your automobile because no motel will accept you; when you are humiliated day in and day out by nagging signs reading “white” and “colored”; when your first name becomes “nigger,” your middle name becomes “boy” (however old you are) and your last name becomes “John,” and your wife and mother are never given the respected title “Mrs.”; when you are harried by day and haunted by night by the fact that you are a Negro, living constantly at tiptoe stance, never quite knowing what to expect next, and are plagued with inner fears and outer resentments; when you are forever fighting a degenerating sense of “nobodiness” — then you will understand why we find it difficult to wait. There comes a time when the cup of endurance runs over, and men are no longer willing to be plunged into the abyss of despair. I hope, sirs, you can understand our legitimate and unavoidable impatience."

[brooklyndadshow]

MLK Day is here!

So far really happy about the day. I did my morning playlist and morning writing, had breakfast, the listened to Letter from Birmingham Jail.

Then released my new podcast, AI Revolutionary Radio:

Then I just listened to Stokley Carmichael's Black Power speech.

The words of King are ringing in my head and I'm ready to double down on being a force for justice in everything I do.

[exploresmallworlds]

Writing Prompt: Letter (from Birmingham Jail)

I have read this letterMore times that I remember the numberI read it at least every yearSometimes I read it more than once In death his legacy is picked apartHis radical stance on povertyForgottenHis radical stance on mass unionisationThe reason for his assassinationKilled because the public almostUniversally hated him Now he is resurrected like LazarusA cuddly figureHe hasn’t don’t anything…

[readingsquotes]

"First, I must confess that over the past few years I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate. I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro's great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen's Counciler or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate, who is more devoted to "order" than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says: "I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I cannot agree with your methods of direct action"; who paternalistically believes he can set the timetable for another man's freedom; who lives by a mythical concept of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait for a "more convenient season." Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection."

"Letter from a Birmingham Jail [King, Jr.]"

[a-typical]

First, I must confess that over the past few years I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate. I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro's great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen's Counciler or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate, who is more devoted to "order" than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says: "I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I cannot agree with your methods of direct action"; who paternalistically believes he can set the timetable for another man's freedom. — Martin Luther King, Jr. , Letter from Birmingham Jail (1963)

[venniekocsis]

Writing For Social Change

Let’s delve into the art of writing with a purpose—specifically, writing to inspire social change. What are the subtleties and considerations involved in addressing social issues through the written word? Prepare yourself for a comprehensive exploration into the craft of writing that seeks to make a difference. What is social change?  Social change refers to significant and lasting…

[187days]

Day One Hundred Thirty-Eight

We had remote school today, but not really because the storm dumped rain, then ice, then wet, heavy snow all night and all day. So that brought down tree branches- and whole trees- all over the place, including around my apartment (woke up to a giant branch falling on the power lines around 5:30AM). Somehow, I still had power, but then a bunch more branches came down, hit the poles, wham!

Luckily, I'd told all my students what their instructions would be and posted everything to Classroom yesterday. Plus, I could still email, and even managed to use my phone to hold brief Google Meets with each of my classes (The Principal obviously waived that expectation today, but I figured I'd attempt it anyways because routines are helpful). After checking in via Meet and asking any clarifying questions about the day's expectations, my ninth graders kept doing what they've been doing all week: reading their books, drafting their current events-write ups. My seniors had to tell me about the struggle to get the Civil Rights Act of 1964 through Congress, then read Malcolm X's "The Ballot or the Bullet" in preparation for a discussion about it and King's "Letter from Birmingham Jail."

I was originally planning on having that discussion tomorrow, but I emailed my students to let them know that I'm going to reschedule it for Tuesday in order to ensure that everyone's prepared. There's a chance we'll end up having another remote learning day tomorrow anyhow. At the very least, we'll have a delayed opening, and I don't want to rush a through discussion in a shortened block.

So, yeah, embracing the change. Adaptability and flexibility are two very key skills of teaching!

[transfloridaresources]

[Photo ID: Color photo of masked protestors holding various signs in support of the intersection of Black Lives Matter, trans lives, and lgbt lives. A quote over top of the image reads 'Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly. - Martin Luther King, Jr. Letter from Birmingham Jail' and 'transfloridaresources.' /End ID]

Moreover, I am cognizant of the interrelatedness of all communities and states. I cannot sit idly by in Atlanta and not be concerned about what happens in Birmingham. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly. Never again can we afford to live with the narrow, provincial "outside agitator" idea. Anyone who lives inside the United States can never be considered an outsider. You deplore the demonstrations that are presently taking place in Birmingham. But I am sorry that your statement did not express a similar concern for the conditions that brought the demonstrations into being. I am sure that each of you would want to go beyond the superficial social analyst who looks merely at effects and does not grapple with underlying causes. I would not hesitate to say that it is unfortunate that so-called demonstrations are taking place in Birmingham at this time, but I would say in more emphatic terms that it is even more unfortunate that the white power structure of this city left the Negro community with no other alternative. Martin Luther King, Jr. Letter from Birmingham Jail

[odinsblog]

“The great enemy of justice are those moderates who feign outrage at societal injustice, but whose outrage conveniently disappears when real change threatens their status. These moderates are more comfortable leaving unchallenged the assumed moral authority of certain institutions, traditions and practices that are the purveyors of injustice rather than confronting their own role in maintaining these institutions. The hard truth is that the comfort of the status quo is always preferable to pursuing the demands of justice.”

—MLKjr

Despite what moderates (centrists, neoliberals, etc.)—who are more devoted to order than justice—might be saying, there should be no doubt that Martin Luther King, Jr. would be on the side of the student protesters who are standing up for Palestine 🇵🇸

[sugas6thtooth]