Ican assure you that it would have been much shorter if I had been writing from a comfortable desk,but what else can one do when he k alone in a narrow jail cell, other than write long letters, thinklong thoughts and pray long prayers?
This made me snicker a little. In all reality it was completely unnecessary to say, but also so perfect!
the Americandream
the "American Dream" is a scam
they have acted in the faith that right defeated is stronger than evil triumphant.
more peopel need to be like this
But again I amthankful to God that some noble souls from the ranks of organized religion have broken loose fro mthe paralyzing chains of conformity
People like this are few and far between but when you meet them it's healing
Small in number, they were big incommitment.
It's like a group mentality. When there's few in numbers, you can almost guarantee that there's less chance of things being wrong.
There can be no deep disappointmentwhere there is not deep love.
I disagree with this statement. You can be greatly disappointed in someone or something that you love deeply. Or at least I have been, but maybe that is just me
“Thoseare social issues, with which the gospel has no real concern.”
I have met so many people of many different faiths who believe this and it is not true. There needs to be a balance, just like with everything in life.
toomany others have been more cautious than courageous and have remained silent behind theanesthetizing security of stained-glass windows.
I like the way MLK said this. It is very true, too many people sit there in the comfort at safety of things staying just the way they are. Change is scary and so they do not accept it.
I have been so greatly disappointed with thewhite church and its leadership.
me too... me too
Oppressed people cannot remain oppressed forever. The yearning for freedom eventually manifestsitself,
This is true wether you're truly oppressed or just think you are. Either way, if you crave freedom, it will manifest itself and there will be concequences (which can be good or bad)
First, I must confessthat over the past few years I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate. I have almostreached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro’s great stumbling block in his stride towardfreedom is not the White Citizen’s Counciler or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate, who ismore devoted to “order” than to justice
This is something I have experienced in a different situation ofc, but I agree whole heartedly. It's not the person leading , its not the people who don't know what's happening, it's not the people who follow even tho they're fully aware of what is happening and is wrong, it's the people who are too complacent to do anything
One who breaks anunjust law must do so openly, lovingly, and with a willingness to accept the penalty
This is true, if you're go against the rules there will be consequences and you must be ready and willing to face them. And before hand you should ask yourself why you're breaking the rule
I would agree with St. Augustinethat “an unjust law is no law at all”
I agree too
There comes a time when the cup of endurance runs over
I have never been through anything as terrible as what they went through but I understand this very much
when you suddenly find your tongue twisted and yourspeech stammering as you seek to explain to your six-year-old daughter why she can’t go to thepublic amusement park that has just been advertised on television, and see tears welling up in hereyes when she is told that Funtown is closed to colored children, and see ominous clouds ofinferiority beginning to form in her little mental sky, and see her beginning to distort her personalityby developing an unconscious bitterness toward white people; when you have to concoct an answerfor a five-year-old son who is asking: “Daddy, why do white people treat colored people so mean?”
When you read this your first thought would be sympathy for the kids and how their subconsciously being traumatized. But imagine how hard it'd be for the parents too!? The mom or dad seeing the changes in their child and knowing that there is nothing they can do to protect their baby
“justice too long delayed is justice denied.
This comment is very deep
Lamentably, it is an historical fact that privilegedgroups seldom give up their privileges voluntarily.
It is very easy to understand both sides of this. On one hand I can see like yes ofc why in the world would a group just give up their privileges. But on the other hand it's like well did they actually earn those privileges or did they get them bc they act entitled?
But I must confess that I am not afraid of the word“tension.”
I like this! It rly hits home, the past couple years have been pretty hard for me and I'm learning that tension isn't always a bad thing and that I definitely don't need to be scared of it
Negroes have experienced grossly unjust treatment in the courts.
It blows my mind how racist the south is to this day! I lived in the south for almost five years and maybe it was just where I was living but they are still very racist.
We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment ofdestiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.
In a way, this is true. Maybe not on such a large scale, but our actions affect the ppl around us wether we realize it or not. Something we say can hurt someone who takes it out on someone else so on and so forth
Never again can we afford to live with thenarrow, provincial “outside agitator” idea.
I wish this were true, but people are fearful. And when we live out of a spirit of fear we shun the things that are different and that feel unsafe.
Seldom do I pause to answer criticism of my work andideas.
It is very hard to not answer criticism especially when it is your life's calling. So for Martin Luther King to not engage it the criticism he received is very impressive
But because by then I had been writing for so long, I would eventually let myselftrust the process -- sort of, more or less. I
This was interesting to me. I feel like life has a pattern to it, like writing does. And if you can kinda figure out that pattern than it helps you roll with the punches easier.