��������

:43 IT WAS THE COURSE CORRECT FOR AMERICA :46 THE LETTER FROM BIRMINGHAM JAIL. IT IS A RESPONSE TO ALL OF HIS CRITICS AROUND THE COUNTRY WRITTEN APRIL 1963 BY DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. 19:10 I WAS IN THE CROWD SOMEWHERE. BUT, A LOT OF US DIDN’T GET ARRESTED, FIRST HAND ACCOUNTS FROM THE MEN AND WOMEN OF THE MOVEMENT.. I SAW DR. KING’S STRENGTH AND HE SAID, YOU’VE GOT TO HAVE SOMETHING IN LIFE WORTH DYING FOR 3:34.... DR. KING SPEAKING DIRECT....ABOUT THE FIGHT FOR RACIAL EQUALITY. <13:19 I’M CONFINED IN THIS JAIL.. BUT THESE BARS WILL NOT HOLD ME. MY MESSAGE WILL STILL GET OUT 13:24 �������� 13 PRESENTS...PROJEC T COMMUNITY: LETTER FROM A BIRMINGHAM JAIL. MY DEAR FELLOW CLERGYMEN, WHILE CONFINED HERE IN THE BIRMINGHAM CITY JAIL, I CAME ACROSS YOUR RECENT STATEMENT CALLING OUR PRESENT ACTIVITIES "UNWISE AND UNTIMELY." SELDOM, IF EVER, DO I PAUSE TO ANSWER CRITICISM OF MY WORK AND IDEAS.... BUT SINCE I FEEL THAT YOU ARE MEN OF GENUINE GOOD WILL AND YOUR CRITICISMS ARE SINCERELY SET FORTH, I WOULD LIKE TO ANSWER YOUR STATEMENT IN WHAT I HOPE WILL BE PATIENT AND REASONABLE TERMS. THOSE WORDS WRITTEN BY DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING JUNIOR ON APRIL 16TH, 1963-- KICKED OFF A UNIQUE PATH IN THE CIVIL RIGHTS ERA. THANKS FOR JOINING US... I’M GUY RAWLINGS. AND I’M CARLA WADE. SARAH, THANKS FOR JOINING US TONIGHT. I’M GUY RAWLINGS AND I’M CARLA WADE. AND THAT WAS ALABAMA’S FIRST BLACK POET LAUREATE ASHLEY M JONES, READING SOME OF DR. KING’S LETTER. NOW, ASHLEY WILL BE BACK WITH US THROUGHOUT THE NEXT HOUR TO READ MORE FROM THE LETTER. TONIGHT, WE DIG DEEP INTO DR. KING’S LETTER FROM BIRMINGHAM JAIL. THE 20 PLUS PAGE LETTER THAT STARTED US OFF AS PHRASES WRITTEN ON LOOSE SCRAPS OF PAPER AND A CITY JAIL CELL FOLLOWING HIS ARREST FOR PROTESTS AND WITHOUT A PERMIT OVER THE MISTREATMENT OF BLACKS IN BIRMINGHAM. THOSE SCRAPS THE RESPONSE TO A PUBLISHED STATEMENT BY EIGHT LOCAL CLERGYMEN KNOWN AS A CALL FOR UNITY, CRITICIZING DR. KING AND THE DEMONSTRATION ENDS IN FEAR OF VIOLENCE. AND THIS WAS AT THE START OF THE ALABAMA CHRISTIAN MOVEMENT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS. BIRMINGHAM CAMPAIGN. AND OF COURSE, WE ALL KNOW THAT DR. KING WAS ON A MISSION AND WASN’T GOING TO LET ANYONE GET HIM OFF TRACK. THAT’S WHY HIS TIME IN THE BIRMINGHAM CITY JAIL WASN’T IN VAIN. INSTEAD, IT GAVE HIM THE OPPORTUNITY TO EXPRESS HIMSELF THROUGH HIS WORDS. THAT TURNED IN TO HIS FAMOUS LETTER AND UNSUNG HERO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR HELPING GET THOSE WORDS OUT TO THE PUBLIC. THEN WILLIE PEARL, MACKIE WASN’T IN THE SPOTLIGHT, BUT IN THE BACKGROUND, MAKING SURE THAT DR. KING WAS STILL HEARD. SHE SHARES HER STORY OF WORKING WITH DR. KING. THIS IS IT. AND AT THE VERY BACK OF THIS MLK DREAM, WILLIE MACK, THE LETTER FROM BIRMINGHAM JAIL, ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT DOCUMENTS OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS ERA WAS TYPEWRITTEN BY A THEN 22 YEAR OLD WILLIE PEARL. MACKIE KING. KING IS NO RELATION TO THE CIVIL RIGHTS HERO. AND SHE JUST HAPPENED TO MARRY A MAN WITH THE SAME LAST NAME. SHE WORKED FOR THE SOUTHERN CHRISTIAN LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE AS A MEMBER OF DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR’S EXECUTIVE STAFF. NOT EVEN REALIZING AT THE TIME HOW IMPORTANT HER JOB WAS AND HER ROLE IN THE CIVIL RIGHTS FIGHT. I DID NOT WANT TO BE INVOLVED. I HAD NEVER HEARD OF THE SOUTHERN CHRISTIAN LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE. I HAD NEVER HEARD OF THE NAACP. I HAD NEVER HEARD OF MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. MORE THAN JUST A SECRETARY. SHE AND OTHER STAFFERS OFTEN TRAVELED WITH HIM DESPITE THE DANGERS THEY FACED IN PLACES WHERE MLK WAS NOT WELCOME. PLACES LIKE BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA, IN APRIL OF 1963, WHERE SHE SAW HIM ARRESTED AND JAILED. THE MOOD IN BIRMINGHAM AND ON THE TOUR WAS VERY SCARY. THERE WERE ALL KINDS OF THREATS AGAINST DR. KING’S LIFE. MANY NIGHTS WHEN YOU WOULD GO TO BED, I WOULD GO TO BED AND WOULD HAVE NO IDEA THAT I WAS GOING TO BE AROUND THE NEXT DAY BECAUSE OF THE THREATS. I SAW DR. KING’S STRESS AND THE FACT THAT HE SAID, YOU KNOW, YOU OUGHT TO HAVE SOMETHING IN LIFE WORTH DYING FOR. SAID, BUT NOT IT MAY HEAT UP TOO YOUNG. THAT IS MAGGIE KING WAS GIVEN THE OPTION TO GO HOME, BUT SHE STUCK AROUND FOR THE BIGGER CAUSE. I WAS DEFINITELY WILLING TO SACRIFICE MY LIFE IF IT MEANT BETTER. BRING THE CONDITIONS OF THE PEOPLE THAT I LOVED. MY FAMILY, MY JUST PEOPLE WHO LOOKED LIKE ME. AND I PICKED THAT UP FROM WATCHING DR. KING’S SACRIFICE AND ALL THAT. HE WAS WILLING TO GIVE UP BECAUSE HE COULD HAVE DONE VERY WELL AS A PREACHER. YOU KNOW, BECAUSE FIRST OF ALL, YOU HAVE TO UNDERSTAND THAT HE WAS A BAPTIST MINISTER BEFORE A CIVIL RIGHTS LEADER. AND HE WAS NOT POOR WHEN HE GREW UP. SO HE WALKED AWAY FROM A LOT TO MAKE THESE SACRIFICES. THE GEORGIA NATIVE WORKED CLOSELY WITH FELLOW SLC MEMBER DR. WYATT T WALKER. OH, YEAH. HE WAS A TREMENDOUS HELP. I MEAN, IT WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN POSSIBLE WITHOUT HIS INPUT BECAUSE I HAD NO IDEA WHAT DR. KING WAS TRYING TO SAY. TOGETHER, THEY WOULD TRAIN SCRIBE THE FAMOUS LETTER FROM SCRAPS OF TOILET PAPER, NEWSPAPER EDGES, WHATEVER DR. KING COULD FIND A WRITE ON INSIDE THE BIRMINGHAM JAIL THAT WAS LATER SNUCK OUT BY HIS LAWYER, CLARENCE JONES. HE ASKED FOR PENCIL AND PAPER AND THEY SAID, YOU’RE IN JAIL. YOU’RE NOT IN THE LIBRARY. SO NO, SHE WOULD BECOME NAT, JUST AN EYEWITNESS TO HISTORY, BUT A NECESSARY PART OF THE EQUATION. AND GETTING THE LETTER OUT TO THE PUBLIC AND THE FAITH LEADERS WHO HAD CRITICIZED THE MOVEMENT, IT WAS MY JOB THEN TO GET DOWN ON THE FLOOR WITH A JIGSAW PUZZLE LIKE AND TRY TO PUT TOGETHER WHAT IT WAS HE WAS SAYING. THERE WAS NO RHYME OR REASON. THERE WAS NO ORDER. BUT OUT OF THE JUMBLE OF WORDS AND PHRASES THAT WOULD COME THE CIVIL RIGHTS ICON, A MASTERFUL DEFENSE OF NONVIOLENT RESISTANCE TO LAWS UPHOLDING RACISM AND SEGREGATION. IF YOU DON’T GET THE WHY, HE WAS IN BIRMINGHAM, WHAT COMPELLED HIM TO BE IN BIRMINGHAM? YOU’VE LOST THIS CENTRAL PART OF THE LETTER. THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IS WHY WE CAN’T WAIT. WHY THE -- IS TIRED OF WAITING. WHY WE HAVE DEALT WITH THIS FOR SO MANY YEARS WITHOUT RESOLVE. THE TIME IS NOW. AND THAT’S WHAT THE LETTER FROM THE BIRMINGHAM JAIL TELLS ME. IT WAS AN URGENT CALL TO ACTION. BOTH THEN AND NOW. YOU CAN’T SIT BACK AND WAIT FOR SOMEONE ELSE TO DO YOUR JOB. WE HAVE TO DO THIS TOGETHER. IT IS NOT A SOLO JOURNEY. SHE SAYS THERE ARE STILL THREATS TO JUSTICE EVERYWHERE. I WOULD JUST HOPE THAT PEOPLE WOULD REALIZE THINGS LIKE THE BIRMINGHAM JAIL LETTER OR READ THINGS ABOUT THEIR HISTORY. AND I’M DISAPPOINTED RIGHT NOW THAT THAT IS UNDER ATTACK. AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY IS UNDER ATTACK. SO I’M PRAYING THAT THAT WILL CEASE AND DESIST ALL IMMEDIATELY. AND THE MORAL OBLIGATION TO RESIST EVER PRESENT. IN ANY NONVIOLENT CAMPAIGN. THERE ARE FOUR BASIC STEPS. COLLECTION OF THE FACTS TO DETERMINE WHETHER INJUSTICES EXIST. NEGOTIATION. SELF PURIFICATION AND DIRECT ACTION. WE HAVE GONE THROUGH ALL THESE STEPS IN BIRMINGHAM. THERE CAN BE NO GAINSAYING THE FACT THAT RACIAL INJUSTICE ENGULFS THIS COMMUNITY. BIRMINGHAM IS PROBABLY THE MOST THOROUGHLY SEGREGATED CITY IN THE UNITED STATES. BISHOP CALVIN WOODS WAS JUST A YOUNG PASTOR AT EAST END BAPTIST CHURCH WHEN HE WAS ARRESTED AFTER GIVING A SERMON ABOUT INJUSTICE. MAYOR RANDALL WOODMAN ALWAYS KNEW HE WAS MEANT TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN THE CITY HE LOVES IN TERMS OF LEADERSHIP. MANY ARE CALLED, FEW ARE CHOSEN. TONIGHT, WE HEAR FROM WOODS AND WOODFIN ABOUT DR. KING’S LETTER AND THE PUSH FOR CHANGE THAT STILL HAS MEANING. TODAY, WERE YOU THERE WHEN HE WAS ARRESTED? WHEN DR. KING WAS ARRESTED? I WAS IN THE CROWD SOMEWHERE, BUT A LOT OF US DIDN’T GET ARRESTED. WE GET UP IN FRONT. REVEREND CALVIN WOODS PARTICIPATED IN THE DEMONSTRATE MISSION THAT LED TO DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR’S ARREST ON APRIL 12TH, 1963. WHILE IN JAIL. DR. KING LEARNED ABOUT THE OPEN LETTER WRITTEN BY EIGHT LOCAL RELIGIOUS LEADERS AND TOOK UP A PEN OF HIS OWN. SO IN A LETTER FROM THE BIRMINGHAM JAIL, TEEN KING IS TELLING ABOUT HOW HE HE HE READ THAT THAT ARTICLE ABOUT THEM, WHAT THEY SAID ABOUT HIM. HE’S OUTSIDE AND WE NEED TO WAIT AND BE PATIENT AND ALL LIKE THAT. AND HE EXPLAINED WHY, YOU KNOW, WE CAME, WE WERE THEN WAITED THEN WAIT, YOU ALL. I’M DONE IN ACTION CAN SHOW US ONE THING THAT YOU ALL DID WITHOUT US. YOU KNOW. PROTESTED AGAINST THE POWER OF KING’S LETTER FROM THE BIRMINGHAM JAIL WAS NOT SPEAKING TO THOSE FOLKS ON THE ACTUAL IN THE TRENCHES ON THE FRONT LINE. SPEAKING TO THE FOLK ON THE SITE LINE, TELLING THE FOLK ON THE FRONT LINE THAT YOU SHOULDN’T BE THERE, OR IF YOU’RE GOING TO BE THERE, THIS IS HOW YOU SHOULD DO IT. NOW DOESN’T WORK LIKE THAT AND YOU HAVE TO CALL OUT OF THE DEAFENING SILENCE OF THOSE WHO ARE SUPPOSED TO BE THERE WITH. MAYOR RANDALL WOODFIN NOW LEADS THE CITY ONCE KNOWN AS THE MOST SEGREGATED CITY IN AMERICA. IT REFLECTS UPON ME THAT I AM IN THE POSITION OF MAYOR THAT IN 2023 I AM NOW RESPONSIBLE FOR THE SAME POLICE DEPARTMENT THAT EUGENE WARD CONNER WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR RELEASING POLICE DOGS ON PEACEFUL BLACK PROTESTERS. I AM RESPONSIBLE IN 2023 FOR THE SAME FIRE DEPARTMENT. EUGENE BULL CONNOR AS COMMISSIONER OF PUBLIC SAFETY, THAT IN DAY 2023 IS THE EQUIVALENT. THE MAYOR, BULL CONNOR’S VIOLENT POLICIES AND SOME OF THE PUBLIC STANCE TOWARD MAINTAINING STATUS QUO WERE UNTENABLE AND ENTAIL. MANY BLACKS WERE GETTING BEATEN EVERY WEEK LIKE A BLACK WAS GETTING KILLED EVERY WEEK. NOW, WAS IT. SOME OF US GOT BEAT. I GOT THE SOME GUY I HAVE TROUBLE WITH. THEY SHOWED RIGHT NOW THE POLICE AND ARRESTS LOTS AND LOTS OF ARRESTS. CITY OFFICIALS PRIORITIZE ORDER OVER JUSTICE. MAYOR WOODFIN BELIEVES YOU NEED TO HAVE BOTH. AND THE ONLY WAY TO ACHIEVE THAT IS THROUGH PROPER LEADERSHIP. I BELIEVE YOU HAVE TO BE INTENTIONAL ABOUT DOING BOTH. YOU CAN, IF YOU GET LAZY, YOU CAN ONLY IS EASY. THE ONLY FOCUS ON ONE. IS SOMETHING CALLED A GOAL AND MEDIAN. AND WE’RE SITTING AT A TABLE HAVING THIS INTERVIEW AND IT JUST SO HAPPENS I’M SITTING RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF IT WHERE THERE’S A CREASE IN THESE TWO TABLES COMING TOGETHER. AND I THINK LEADERSHIP REQUIRES THAT YOU YOU BE RIGHT HERE THAT TOO FAR THIS WAY YOU CAN LEAD A CERTAIN WAY AND TOO FAR THIS WAY CAN BE RECKLESS AND IN STRIKING A BALANCE, YOU CAN DO JUST THIS, BUT YOU CAN ALSO DO OTHER THINGS AS FAR AS ORDER AND STRIKE THE BALANCE IN YOUR COMMUNITY THAT CITIZENS NEED. THE LOCAL WHITE CLERGY FELT KING DISTURBED COMMUNITY BALANCE. THEY POSTED A PUBLIC STATEMENT CONDEMNING HIS INVOLVEMENT IN THE CITY, URGING WHAT THEY CALLED LAW AND ORDER AND COMMON SENSE. IT’S INTERESTING THAT THEIR LETTER, THEY SAY THEY WANT THE SAME THING, BUT YOU’RE NOT GOING TO GET WHAT YOU’RE NOT GOING TO GET THAT SITTING ON THE SIDELINES. THOSE CLERGYMEN MADE THEMSELVES ACTIVE SPECTATORS IN A DANGEROUS GAME. BUT THE STAKES WERE FAR TOO HIGH FOR KING NOT TO RESPOND. SO IT WAS VERY IMPORTANT FOR KING TO DO THAT BECAUSE HE SPOKE TRUTH TO POWER. THEY SHOULD HAVE BEEN THE ONES ENCOURAGE AND THEIR PEOPLE TO DO WHAT’S RIGHT, AND IT WAS VERY NECESSARY FOR HIM TO SHINE A LIGHT ON THEM, TO LET PEOPLE SEE THEY WERE NOT RIP. THEN GOD WITH THAT TYPE OF RHETORIC, REVEREND WOODS TAKES PRIDE IN THE WORK HIS GENERATION PUT IN FOR THE RESULTS WE SEE TODAY. I THINK IT HAPPENED HERE BECAUSE GOD CHOSE WHAT HAPPENED HERE. I’M NOT BRAGGING. NO, WE HAVE A LONG WAY TO GO. BUT RIGHT NOW, BIRMINGHAM IS ONE OF THE BETTER CITIES IN THIS COUNTRY. I KNOW WE STILL GOT PROBLEMS, BUT ACCORDING TO MY EXPERIENCE AND MY GIRLS HERE, I HAVE SEEN SIGNIFICANT PROGRESS. AND MAYOR WOODFIN KNOWS DR. KING’S WORK. I HAVE A RESPONSIBILITY IN THIS POSITION. RELATED TO BEING RESPONSIBLE PUBLIC SAFETY, PUBLIC SAFETY OFFICERS, HOW I ENGAGE ACTIVISTS, HOW I ENGAGE THOSE WHO WANT TO PROTEST IS FAR FROM OVER. WE. KNOW WE’VE GOT A JOB TO DO AND GET FREEDOM. WE NEARLY 90 YEARS OLD. I HOPE I HAVE THAT TYPE OF ENERGY AT BISHOP WOOD’S AGE. BUT IN TALKING TO BOTH WOODS AND WOODFIN, I WAS HOPING TO SHOW THE LETTERS RELEVANCE. THE CONTINUES TODAY. ABSOLUTELY NO SUPPORT. DR. KING CALLING OUT THE CHURCH AND ITS LEADERSHIP. COMING UP, A LOOK AT THE CHURCH’S ROLE DURING THE CIVIL RIGHTS ERA AND WHAT DR. KING HAD HOPED FOR. AND LAWS BASED ON COLOR. WE LOOK AT JUST AN UNJUST LOSS AND HOW WHAT WAS GOOD FOR ONE WASN’T GOOD FOR ALL. WHEN WE HAVE LAWS THAT ARE PROTECTING EVERYONE THE SAME APPLICATION, EQUAL PROTECTION, IF YOU WILL, ALL OVER THE COUNTRY, THEN IT WILL MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN HOW WE LOOK AT THINGS. YOU’RE WATCHING PROJECT COMMUNITY LETTER FROM A BIRMINGHAM JAIL. NOW, WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE TWO? HOW DOES ONE DETERMINE WHETHER A LAW IS JUST OR UNJUST? A JUST LAW IS A MANMADE CODE THAT SQUARES WITH THE MORAL LAW OR THE LAW OF GOD AN UNJUST LAW IS A CODE THAT IS OUT OF HARMONY WITH THE MOR