Influence Of Martin Luther King Jr

Martin Luther King Jr., activist and leader, in his letter, Letter from Birmingham Jail, argued and emphasized why nonviolent direct action was not extreme when it came to dealing with racial tension in Alabama.  His letter was a well written and well thought out response to the clergymen's statement, Call to Unity, a statement that claimed that nonviolent direct action was extreme.  King’s purpose for writing his response was to persuade his audience, the clergymen/white moderates, that their thoughts on how he approached and handled racial tension were ill-judged.  He successfully got his point across in his response by using rhetorical modes of Logos, Ethos, and Pathos using biblical comparisons, explanations about his cause, and personal stories.

Martin Luther King Jr. was a brilliant man who preached non-violence to his followers during the fight of equality in deeply

Martin Luther King Jr. is remembered as one of the greatest leaders of modern humanity. Perhaps the most astonishing aspect of his leadership was his ability to adapt to whatever leadership style was necessary for any specific scenario. He could be a transformational leader if people needed to be mobilized, a servant leader when followers needed to be led by example, or a charismatic leader when he gave any one of his plethora of monumental speeches. Not only could MLK perform in each of these leadership roles, but he excelled at them. Dr. King was one of the greatest, most versatile leaders ever. We will discuss why in the following paragraphs.

On April 12, 1963, eight clergyman wrote an open letter, “A Call for Unity”. In this published letter, the clergyman expressed their strong disapproval of the civil rights demonstrations taking place in Birmingham, Alabama. Consequently, that same day, civil rights leader, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was arrested for protesting without a permit. In his short eleven day jail sentence, Dr. King directly responded to the clergymen with a letter of his own. In his letter, Dr. King informed his readers about the protests in Birmingham. He explained why the protesters were civilly infringing racist laws and city ordinances; why the protesters had truth and justice; and how he was thwarted with the clergyman and white moderates in the South who said they supported his cause. In his “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, Dr. King incorporates biblical and historical allusions to defend the strategy of nonviolent resistance to racism. Dr. King’s allusions gave him credibility with his target audience, the clergymen. Additionally, Dr. King subtly asks rhetorical questions and logical conclusions to force his audience to consider his purpose.

King’s purposeful use of appealing to reason gave him an upper hand throughout his piece, “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” and established security in his statements. Taking ethos into consideration from Martin Luther King’s text, we saw why he presented himself in such a formal manner. “I have the honor of serving as president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, an organization operating in every southern state, with headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia” (Paragraph 2, “Letter from a Birmingham Jail”). By using this appeal to credibility, King earned his audience’s respect and varnished his message. Connecting to his readers, Martin Luther King also utilized pathos throughout his letter to add just another foothold on his audience. “But since I feel that you are men of genuine good will and that your criticisms are sincerely set forth, I want to try to answer your statement in what I hope will be patient and

2 values that Martin Luther king Jr felt that worth giving his life for were freedom and faith. Martin Luther king, Jr was arrested and sent to jail in Birmingham because he protested treatment of blacks against political demonstrations. He then published a letter in a newspaper declaring demonstrations for justice with his faith. He wrote that everyone has a right to break unjust laws and encouraged people to confront issues and put into practice rather than watching it from far away. He explained every details the reason of what he is doing and why he does this movement. He also focused on “nonviolent direct action” not “direct action”. He did not want people to fight each other violently based on Matthew 5:38-39 “you have heard that it

In April 1963, the city of Birmingham, Alabama, was caught in the midst of massive civil rights protests. Protestors advocating for desegregation brought the city to a halt with widespread disruptive yet peaceful protests. After a circuit court placed an injunction against protesting, parading and picketing King was arrested for his involvement. While in jail King received a letter written by eight Alabama clergymen criticizing King for his disruptive protests and the breaking of laws which lead to his arrest. In response King wrote an open letter explaining his actions that would be known as “Letter from Birmingham Jail”. In his letter Dr. King effectively addresses an unsympathetic audience by focusing on building his credibility rather than seeking an emotional response.

In 1963 in Birmingham, Alabama, a group of eight white clergymen wrote a letter criticizing the actions of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr and others protesting racial segregation. After being arrested for protesting and reading the letter in a local newspaper, Dr. King decided to address the clergymen by writing to them on the sides of the newspaper. This passionate letter was Dr. King’s attempt to convince the clergymen that the protests and actions they were witnessing were necessary and justified. Throughout this letter, Dr. King uses logos, pathos, and ethos to strengthen his argument and to persuade his readers that

Credibility and ethics are one of the first things noted in King’s letter, and the presentation of it helps the reader to carry on reading the letter with open-mindedness and trust that King will continue to sincerely explain the reasons for the letter and the protest. Also, he establishes his credibility in the second paragraph by responding to the clergymen’s view that he was an outsider coming in. Similarly, King institutes his credibility by revealing that he is the president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference which was an organization working in every southern state. Martin Luther King Jr. also appeals to ethos by even stating the clergymen’s views throughout his letter, which, of course embodies the alternative to his views. People have respect and trust for King which is proof of his reliability, as one man writes, “I believe Luther's actions truly reflect his belief that all people should be equal. His actions also show his commitment to the movement and the fact that this man was a leader” (Akerman 1).

It takes great determination to achieve great goals.  Determination is like a freight train, it takes a great force to get it started, but once it gets going, anything that stands in its tracks will be forced out of its way.  Likewise, for a train to stop it takes a long time and a lot of effort, that is why they just keep on going until they reach their destination.  Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. knew this concept well.  In 1963, King wrote the “Letter from Birmingham Jail”.  Determined to destroy the injustice of racism in America, he set out with the goal of reaching his destination.  His undying will eventually landed him in a jail cell, but that did not stop him, he kept going and forced the obstacle aside.  From the jail cell, he wrote this letter.  In his letter, he talks about many different solutions that our nation could use to resolve the problem.  Committed to solve injustice no matter what came his way, Reverend King showed his determination in this letter using the three common rhetorical appeals of ethos, logos, and pathos.

“Only through an inner spiritual transformation do we gain the strength to fight vigorously the evils of the world in a humble and loving spirit” (King 18). America’s history of hate towards individuals of color has transcended for centuries when finally, an African American minster felt it was enough and had to do something about this social injustice. In the book Strength to Love, by Martin Luther King Jr., it presents a collection of sermons where he hopes to preach the social gospel by emphasizing religious values such as forgiveness to better the nation and the well-being of others. With the combination of Christian teachings and social consciousness, King promotes courage and love as the ultimate forces in combating the evils of the world

In his letter, King used effective language to diffuse the harsh, accusatory tone of the clergymen who criticized his nonviolent protests as “unwise and untimely,” by presenting his argument in a respectful tone, and used logic to respond to their letter. In fact, King even complements the clergymen by saying, "I feel that you are men of genuine good will and that your criticisms are sincerely set forth.” By doing this King made his response sound more professional and therefore made his point more valid. King introduces his letter by proving he is not an “outsider coming in” (1; par 2). He provides his reasons for protesting in Birmingham by establishing his credibility as the president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Through this organization, King was invited to engage in a non-violent act to call attention to the injustice being committed. King further states his reasons for being in Birmingham by comparing himself to the Apostle Paul. He

Dr. King wrote “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” when he was in jail for holding a desegregation protest in Birmingham, Alabama in April, 1963. As a leader of the civil-right movement, Dr. King found that it was an urgent need to take action in Birmingham where the worse segregation and racism brutality happened. However, Dr. King was criticized by eight clergymen that the protest was an extreme action. The letter was the response from Dr. King to their criticism. This essay will briefly summarizes what the letter was about, then discusses about the main arguments in the letter and why Dr. King’s fighting process was remarkably a great lesson to learn from.

.Martin Luther King, Jr. encouraged blacks and whites to confront racism everywhere and spoke about “militant nonviolence” which called on blacks of all ages to who had the willpower to endanger their lives in order to freedom. He wanted

King commented on nonviolence by saying, “Violence as a way of achieving racial justice is both impractical and immoral.” This quote shows how Martin Luther King was against nonviolence as he says it is immoral.This philosophy gives advice on how to live nonviolently, similar to how Thoreau would give his readers advice on how to become one with nature. Martin Luther King’s final idea was practicing nonviolent protest in order to achieve a goal or reform. King, with many other people, in the 1950s and 1960s practiced nonviolent protest in order to achieve his goal of ending segregations, and believes equal rights for blacks across the United States. Martin Luther King’s practice of nonviolence is directly borrowed from Thoreau 's work of Civil Disobedience and Nonviolent Resistance, King even commented on the use of nonviolence by saying, “The teachings of Thoreau came alive in our civil rights movement.” In conclusion, Martin Luther King can be considered a transcendental thinker due to the philosophies he created, the Triple Evil philosophy and Six Principles of Nonviolence philosophy, as well as his practice of nonviolence.