“Letter from Birmingham Jail” is a powerful letter written by Martin Luther King Jr. on April 16, 1963, while incarcerated in Birmingham, Alabama, where he was protesting segregation; in it, he defends the use of nonviolent direct action against unjust laws, criticizes white moderates who advocate for patience and delay, and argues that people have a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws and fight for justice, stating that “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”.
King asserts that injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere, emphasizing the interconnectedness of the struggle for civil rights.
Click this link to read the complete letter: https://spcwv.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/71/2025/03/Letter-From-Birmingham-Jail.pdf
(photo credit: (From left) Rev. Ralph Abernathy, James Forman, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Rev. Jess Douglas lead the voting rights march to the Montgomery County Courthouse.
Spider Martin/Briscoe Center for American History