Letter from Birmingham Jail: Martin Luther King (Penguin Modern)

I really recommend picking this one up and getting the books in this series in general. This was a great way to read something from an author new to me and it has since made me want to buy more of their work!

M.L.K Jr was a remarkable man and said and wrote some really amazing words. This letter just shows the type of man he was and what he really believed in a fought for. People of all races should should M.L.K. Especially in today’s current climate where we seem to be regressing and going backwards towards racial segregation and division between us. It is the opposite of what this man believed in and fought for.

Racism is ignorance and fear, plain and simple, and often willful in its execution when to be otherwise means a person having to admit being deluded or cruel.Martin Luther King, quite concisely and eloquently here, shows the consequences for people from varying realms of society, of perpetuating and acting upon such embedded cultural falsehoods; and in some ways it's increasingly hard to believe, nearly sixty years later, that we've moved only this far on.It's quite sad in fact, that the presumably intelligent human beings who yet harbour such idiocies, cannot seem to get past this point in their lives. But then perhaps that's because many of them are so frightened of the world they think they're seeing, that they end up actually preferring their lies to a truth that could make them free.This book is short, but as a prisoner MLK had little time, and as a naturally powerful orator he knew exactly how much was needed to get his point across, which he does brilliantly in both compositions. He just knows what people need to be hearing if they're ever going to live happier lives - black, white, or whatever.He knows prejudice might sometimes have complex beginnings, but that by the time its a social phenomenon the threads have been woven in the same predictable pattern as all the other human delusions, meaning progress grinding slowly in the face of others self-interest, and ignorance continuing to reign where the will to be better educated is absent.It makes me sad to think we've only come this far, but the fact of King's voice echoing down the decades, despite all attempts to silence it, makes me smile at the same time!

The first in Penguin Modern Series is ‘Letter From Birmingham Jail’ written by Martin Luther King Jr. in the margins of a newspaper while he was imprisoned in in 1936. This letter is a response to criticism from clergymen in Alabama who ‘argued that the battle against racial segregation should be fought in the courts – not the streets.”“One has not only a legal but a moral responsibility to obey just laws. Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws.”King defends his actions and opinions with composure, creating such a compelling and powerful letter written from the heart, now considered his most influential written work. And while now this writing is historic, the topics that it covers are still worryingly current and this is an important read for all.The second essay in this book didn’t move me as much as the first. ‘The Three Dimensions of a Complete Life’ is a snippet of King’s recorded speech, giving a more philosophical and religious take on life. I think probably listening to this would be more powerful that reading it but it’s only short so this isn’t a major problem. For £1, this really is a recommended read!Overall rating: This little book contains a highly influential and powerful piece of writing in Martin Luther King Jr’s “Letter From Birmingham Jail”. This is a tiny book at a tiny price so I’d definitely recommend you pick it up if you haven’t already read it.

Such a great read. Definitely a lot of food for thought. Unfortunately this is still a very pertinent peice of work. May the fullness of Malcolm's God given vision be realised in my living years.

Excellent snippet of Brother King. This is a poignant yet powerful read, a must read!

At only £1 this is an absolute must-read for anyone looking to enlighten themselves with the words of Dr Martin Luther King, Jr.What have you got to lose?

Thank you. Perfect!

Transported to the 60’s! This is an immersive read! Such unrest unfair treatment of black folk! Horrendous times that needed to change. Not much different today.

L'ouvrage nous propose deux textes. Le premier est une lettre que Luther King a écrite en prison pour répondre à des accusations et le second est l'un de ses sermons, sur le sens de la vie..."Je n'avais jamais lu les mots de Martin Luther King et je suis soufflée par tant de justesse, d'érudition et de sérénité, même pour parler des sujets les plus graves, des souffrances les plus profondes. C'est percutant sans jamais être agressif. Je suis admirative du talent de cet homme, honnête et droit, et je comprends à quel point il a pu faire peur. Je conseille cet ouvrage les yeux fermés à absolument tout le monde. Les deux textes sont très différents, et servent un propos différent, et je pense que ceux qui sont hermétiques à la religion auront sûrement des réticences à lire le second et pourtant, il est si beau et exprime si bien le sens de la vie, que vous auriez tort de vous en priver, quoi que vous pensiez de Dieu ou de son existence...C'est un beau coup de coeur qui me donne envie d'en découvrir beaucoup plus sur cette collection mais aussi bien sûr sur Martin Luther King, Jr et sa cause.

Ogni pagina è degna di essere sottolineata, frasi che fanno pensare, una lettura obbligatoria!

Delivered as stated.

The Penguin Modern Edition of Letter from Birmingham Jail consists of 2 parts -The first is an open letter written in April 1963, byMartin Luther King Jr, in response to the criticisms made by 8 White Alabama clergymen, who argued that the battle against racial segregation should be fought in the courts and not on the streets..The letter defends the strategy of nonviolent resistance to racism and gives a befitting response to him being referred to as an “outsider”.It became an important text for the American Civil Rights Movement and was widely published..The second titled The Three Dimensions of a Complete Life, looks like a fragment of his recorded speech and gives a more philosophical and religious take on life, it’s dimensions, god and self love..Both the essays are very rich and powerful and written with the idea to bring a much needed change..I was impressed to read the first letter, in which he voices his opinions with such patience and calm and urges why people should be angry but not violent. It’s a really important piece throwing light on the injustices that we have only read about, but are much more worse..I did not quite resonate with the second part and about the dimensions of a complete life. It felt a little vague in terms of the flow of the writing and the topics..So I’d give this : ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5