Letter From Birmingham Jail Reflection
It is crazy how things work out. I was completely unaware of the readings I had coming up last week when I was visiting the National Civil Rights Museum at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee during Spring Break. As I read through MLKJr’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” I could not help but feel chills. I reflected on how only a piece of glass separated from me from entering his hotel room that he stayed in the night before he passed away. There was also a section of the museum that was based up MLKJr’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” There was a small cell with a cot just to the left of the bars. I remember seeing words inscribed on the wall. I honestly cannot remember what they said because I was taken aback by the display. I stumbled
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MLKJr. is sitting in a jail and yet he still has the sense of peace and positivity about the future. It was almost as if he did not see the bars around him as a jailcell, but rather a temporary room. Then again, he is also a preacher and probably maintained his idea of faith and positivity as more a desired lifestyle prior to the Civil Rights Movement, instead of using it as a front of some sort like many modern-day politicians. Although his entire letter has a rather hopeful tone, the last few lines really situate nicely in the lens of freedom. He writes, “Let us all hope that the dark clouds of racial prejudice will soon pass away and the deep fog of misunderstanding will be lifted from our fear drenched communities, and in some not too distant tomorrow the radiant stars of love and brotherhood will shine over our great nation with all their scintillating beauty.” I refuse to join in line and do the juxtaposing of MLKJr. as some sort of a soft spoken, angelic type character and Malcolm X as this edgy, violent figure. I think both men have their different tones and arguments when it comes to the Civil Rights Movement, but history books tend to be slightly biased in their ways of portraying these two men. These two men are almost two different people fighting for the same movement, but under different
MLKJr. is sitting in a jail and yet he still has the sense of peace and positivity about the future. It was almost as if he did not see the bars around him as a jailcell, but rather a temporary room. Then again, he is also a preacher and probably maintained his idea of faith and positivity as more a desired lifestyle prior to the Civil Rights Movement, instead of using it as a front of some sort like many modern-day politicians. Although his entire letter has a rather hopeful tone, the last few lines really situate nicely in the lens of freedom. He writes, “Let us all hope that the dark clouds of racial prejudice will soon pass away and the deep fog of misunderstanding will be lifted from our fear drenched communities, and in some not too distant tomorrow the radiant stars of love and brotherhood will shine over our great nation with all their scintillating beauty.” I refuse to join in line and do the juxtaposing of MLKJr. as some sort of a soft spoken, angelic type character and Malcolm X as this edgy, violent figure. I think both men have their different tones and arguments when it comes to the Civil Rights Movement, but history books tend to be slightly biased in their ways of portraying these two men. These two men are almost two different people fighting for the same movement, but under different