Letter From Birmingham Jail

We are pleased to present our Trinity Forum Reading featuring Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” with an introduction by Robert M. Franklin and Andrew Young. 

From its first publication in 1963, “Letter from Birmingham Jail” had a seismic impact. Initially written on scraps of toilet paper and scratch paper during his time in jail, King’s letter was later typed by young assistants (one of whom, in struggling to decipher his handwriting, remarked, “Dr. King can speak but he sure can’t write”), and was soon published. From there, it quickly spread around the country as a manifesto articulating the urgency in redressing injustice, the interconnectedness of citizens, the necessity of discernment in responding rightly to unjust laws, and the demands of courage born of faith. In many ways, Dr. King’s letter is a potent illustration of the way in which an immersion in the great ideas of civilization is essential to discerning rightly and acting wisely and courageously in uncertain times.

Not only did King’s letter help galvanize the civil rights movement and upend the widespread complacency of the time, it remains a timeless classic, with lessons equally applicable today in discerning and contributing to justice and compassion in civic life.

Buy 20+ for $9.00 each and save 10%
Buy 50+ for $8.50 each and save 15%
Buy 100+ for $8.00 each and save 20%