MLK Day
It's Martin Luther King Jr. Day and I thought I'd share my tradition with LJ. The media is blasting the "I Have A Dream" speech which is great because it is a wonderful speech but I admit it's not my favorite of MLK's works. For the past three years on this day I've chosen to read Letter From a Birmingham Jail. I was first introduced to the piece in my Religion and Politics class in college and it's still one of my favorite philosophical writings.
MLK wrote this letter after he'd been arrested for a demonstration in Birmingham in response to a group of Christian and Jewish clergymen that disapproved of his methods. While the clergymen agreed with his philosophy they thought he was stirring up unnecessary trouble by taking the fight to the streets when it should be resolved in the courts. I really like this because MLK justifies his entire cause and explains why he feels he has no other choice but to force the issue of integration.
There's a sense of regret here that he has to resort to such public disobedience but he's resolute in his actions and refuses to compromise his morals. The sheer inner strength MLK must have had to hold so tightly to his beliefs in the face of such outright hatred towards him (and let's remember that, while he's much loved now, he was despised while he was alive) is always what impresses me the most about him. His cause was just, but more than that Martin Luther King Jr. was an admirable human being.
MLK wrote this letter after he'd been arrested for a demonstration in Birmingham in response to a group of Christian and Jewish clergymen that disapproved of his methods. While the clergymen agreed with his philosophy they thought he was stirring up unnecessary trouble by taking the fight to the streets when it should be resolved in the courts. I really like this because MLK justifies his entire cause and explains why he feels he has no other choice but to force the issue of integration.
There's a sense of regret here that he has to resort to such public disobedience but he's resolute in his actions and refuses to compromise his morals. The sheer inner strength MLK must have had to hold so tightly to his beliefs in the face of such outright hatred towards him (and let's remember that, while he's much loved now, he was despised while he was alive) is always what impresses me the most about him. His cause was just, but more than that Martin Luther King Jr. was an admirable human being.