How are you commemorating Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day?
“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.” ― Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Letter from the Birmingham Jail.
Critical Analysis
Find answers to the following questions using the visual above, any links below, your big brain, and your knowledge of American government and politics:
What is the main point Dr. King is making in this quote?
Do you agree with Dr. King’s quote?
What is an example of injustice in our world today and how does that injustice affect you?
Explain whether it is true that we are all tied together and interconnected.
Describe any example you can think of where we are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality:
In April 1963 Martin Luther King and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) joined with Birmingham, Alabama’s existing local movement, the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights (ACMHR), in a massive direct action campaign to attack the city’s segregation system by putting pressure on Birmingham’s merchants during the Easter season, the second biggest shopping season of the year. As ACMHR founder Fred Shuttlesworth stated in the group’s “Birmingham Manifesto,” the campaign was “a moral witness to give our community a chance to survive” Taking the long view, segregation has ended in Birmingham. At the same time, there are still huge disparities in Birmingham (and elsewhere) between Whites and Blacks in life expectancy, wealth, employment rates, educational attainment, incarceration rates, etc. Would you say that King and his movement were successful at achieving their goals?
What was the most significant consequence of Dr. King’s lifework?
What would Dr. King think about our world today?
When Dr. King gave his famous, I have a Dream speech on August 28, 1963 he said the following: “In a sense we have come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men would be guaranteed the inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” What do you think King meant by this?
Dr. King continued his I have a Dream speech with the next line: “It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned.” The Declaration of Independence King references promises that, “All men are created Equal.” In 1963, King said the promise was unfulfilled. What would Dr. King say about the difference between the promise and that reality of equality in the United States today?
Write and Discuss
Take ten minutes to write about the question at the top of the page and then discuss with your classmates.
Act on your Learning
Martin Luther King Jr. Day is not a day off, it’s a day on. Take part in the MLK Day of Service and share your story in class or online.
Get Creative
Make a list of the most influential American figures in the past 100 years.
Learning Extension
One of the most important and moving letters in American history is Dr. King's brilliant and inspiring Letter from a Birmingham Jail. You can read it in a twenty minute sitting. You could even read it aloud to your class. We also have a great lesson on Dr. King’s Letter from a Birmingham Jail.
