What Is Nonviolent Direct Action? Here Are MLK’s 6 Principles
Opinion by Nya Grantham -
In 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was imprisoned in the Birmingham, Alabama, city jail on charges associated with "parading, demonstrating, boycotting, trespassing, and picketing." During the eight days he spent behind bars, alongside fellow civil rights leaders Ralph David Abernathy and Fred Shuttlesworth, King wrote the famous “Letter From the Birmingham Jail,” also known as “The Negro Is Your Brother.” The letter voiced his criticism of fellow clergymen not taking a strong enough stand against the unjust laws and practices set in place by the white supremacist power structure in the South. As King put it, "Justice too long delayed is justice denied."
Nearly 60 years after King wrote those words, justice has still not arrived. Black Americans are still waiting for our constitutional rights to be upheld. In 2021 alone, 19 states passed 34 laws restricting voter access.
The best way to learn from history is to see how our past struggles and triumphs continue to inform our present — and to use that knowledge as a call to action. Perspectives From the Birmingham Jail is a three-part series connecting the words and experiences that King drew from to write the letter with the experiences of today’s student organizers at historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs). King’s letter was written amid a crisis of democracy and racial inequity. We find ourselves in a similar situation today, and the responsibility is on us to fix it. An unjust law is an unjust law, whether in 1963 or 2022.
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Posted By: Dea. Ron Gray Sr.
Wednesday, February 16th 2022 at 7:21PM
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