Lucas Tanaka Suzanne Churchill and Shelley Rigger WRI 101 Essay 2 Just and Unjust Dr. Martin Luther King Junior’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail” provides a clear method for how an individual can make a change in society. Responding to an Alabama clergyman who criticized his methods, King contends that civil disobedience is often the most effective way to raise awareness … [Read more...]
Analyzing the Use of Death as a Rhetorical Tactic
Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” written in 1963 is King’s response to the clergymen who disagree with his approach to nonviolent protest in Birmingham. He responds to the clergymen; writing persuasively to recruit for his nonviolent movement. He advocates for the black community to protest now highlighting their oppression using graphic descriptions of … [Read more...]
American Patriotism: MLK Jr. vs. Trump
On April 16th, 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote Letter from a Birmingham Jail to his “fellow clergymen” from his jail cell. This letter commented on The United States and its stance on the issue of racial prejudice. King, Jr. mentions several suggestions for solutions and how change can be made. Nearly fifty-four years later, Donald Trump orated a speech to “fellow … [Read more...]
Modern Black Activists Parallel Strategies in “Letter from a Birmingham Jail”
Black Lives Matter, and other contemporary social justice movements, have adopted many of the techniques used by the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s to advance their cause. Some strategies, like social media and the internet, are inherently new tools. But other rhetorical devices implemented in the 1960s continue to be used by modern black activists. This is exemplified in … [Read more...]
Dr. King’s Relevance to Modern Policy
Often, like in Harriet Jacob’s Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, the argument against oppression is an emotional plea; powerful, but aimless. Effective equality literature directs its writing towards a specific cause. I believe the most persuasive part of Dr. King’s writing is his clear instructional tone explaining how to achieve equality. While Dr. King still uses pathos … [Read more...]
MLK, Malcolm X, and the Power of the Individual
Martin Luther King Jr. is well known for his charismatic influence and multitude of leadership positions, as he reminds readers in “Letter from a Birmingham Jail.” From leading the bus boycott in Montgomery, Alabama, to his position as president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, it is clear that he has experience in positions of authority. Given his expertise in … [Read more...]
Communication: The Key to Success
The key to accomplishing social change, or anything for that matter, is effective communication. Without it, very little would ever get done. Martin Luther King Jr., in his “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” and Kwame Anthony Appiah, based on his 2013 interview with Krista Tippet on “On Being,” use effective communication to make a positive change towards equality among people. … [Read more...]
Martin Luther King Jr’s. Letter From Birmingham Jail Might As Well Have Been Written For Today: White Moderates under the Trump Administration
While the United States has grown less racist in the 54 years since the publication of Martin Luther King Jr.’s Letter from Birmingham Jail, the fact that we can draw parallels from King Jr.’s work, specifically his argument about white moderates’ behavior, to our current political climate unfortunately shows that we have not improved much. King’s argument that white moderates … [Read more...]
How M.L.K. can be seen in the K(no)w Justice K(no)w peace museum
On September 20th, 2016 Keith Lamont Scott was shot by CMPD officer Brentley Vinson. At 10:15 p.m. that night, crowds began to form at the scene of the incident, throwing rocks and bottles at officers. Approximately 24 hours later Justin Carr, a citizen, was shot and killed outside of The Omni Hotel in downtown Charlotte. The crowds, now in the hundreds, began to riot. Officers … [Read more...]
Same Goal, Different Outcome: Why BLM hasn’t been as successful as the civil rights movement
Jeffrey Peng Dr. Churchill, Dr. Rigger WRI 101 Oct 6th, 2017 Martin Luther King Jr., the leader of the 1960s Civil Rights Movement, was able to condemn violence and appealed to white moderates. Even though today’s Black Lives Matter Movement (BLM) has the same goal of ending racism, the movement is unsuccessful in appealing to white moderates because of the … [Read more...]