Martin Luther King Jr.'s Letter From Birmingham Jail - Free Essay Sample

Introduction

The letter from Birmingham jail is a philosophical thought drafted by Martin Luther King Junior to account for the persistent racial discrimination directed towards African Americans by the whites. The letter was written to illuminate on racial discrimination placed on the African Americans and the gross injustices that stem from white power towards the colored race not only in Birmingham but also across the world (Martin Luther King, 1963). Martin Luther wrote the letter to enlighten the African Americans on their need to conduct peaceful demonstrations against the injustices that emanated from the dominant white power. He believed that African Americans had the potential and the moral goal to break the unjust laws through action since courts and other peaceful mechanisms such as negotiations had failed to offer the black race the needed racial justice (Martin Luther King, 1963).

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Disclosure

As a political activist during, Martin Luther King commences his speech in an audio version by disclosing the predicaments that he faced while on his journey in the fight against racial segregation that was prevalent majorly in Birmingham and other parts of the world. Being an African American, he felt the pain of racial discrimination that the white race waged against the blacks that resided in the United States but also other parts of the world (Martin Luther King, 1963). The political activist was confined in Birmingham jail for trying to hold peaceful demonstrations in a view to enlighten African Americans on the need to liberate themselves against racism from the dominant white power. While in jail, he was criticized on his recent activities of making efforts to liberating African Americans from racial injustices, terming them as ‘untimely’ and ‘unwise’.

Response

However, Martin rebutted to respond to criticism and insisted that he is scheduled to deal with racial discrimination rather than responding to critics. However, he chose to respond to a few criticisms that seemed to be reasonable and abandoned the meaningless ones (Martin Luther King, 1963). As a leader of the southern Christina leadership conference, Martin Luther King was requested by his affiliates that reside in Birmingham to engage in a nonviolent and direct-action program to sensitize African Americans on the issue of racial segregation (Martin Luther King, 1963). He believes that injustices commissioned against black Americans are halted through the collection of facts to determine whether injustices exist, arbitration, self-purification, and direct action. In his view, Martin Luther King has employed the first three models to deter racial segregation against black Americans, yet no single model has attained the needed goal (Martin Luther King, 1963). However, he believes that his last model of ‘direct action ‘would relinquish racial discrimination against African Americans.

Among other known strategies, use of direct quotes is the most prevalent strategy employed in the development of the letter. Thought the letter, direct quotes have been employed to demonstrate the liveliness of the speech (Martin Luther King, 1963). In addition, direct quotes also instigate that the letter is accurate and reliable. For instance, the political activist postulates that ‘Are you able to endure the ordeal of jail’ to demonstrate the fact that for an individual to obtain the needed justice, he or she has to be enduring to circumstances such as jail terms (Transcription Audio, 1963).

Conclusion

Thus, in my portfolio project, I would employ the direct quote development strategy to ensure that my audience becomes listens to my speech with optimum concentration. The idea of maximum concentration offers my audience a chance to grasp a lot of information being conveyed in my speech; thus, it enables them to gain a better understanding of the relayed data.

References

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1963). Letter from a Birmingham’s jail. Accessed on 8 August 2020. http://okra.stanford.edu/transcription/document_images/undecided/630416-019.pdf

Transcription audio. (1963)Accessed on 8 August 2020.
http://okra.stanford.edu/transcription/audio/630416001.mp3