Those changes did not come as expected. Martin Luther King compares the .
1963 circumstance in which Southern Blacks live, to that of Black slaves 100 years prior. "Any .
Negro who displayed a spark of manhood, a southern law enforcement officer could say "Nigger, .
watch your step or I"ll put you in jail"." (King p. 15) Jail to a Black American in the South meant .
certain death. Black Americans saw non-violent action as a "way to supplement - not replace - .
the process of change through legal resource." (King p. 23) The Civil Rights movement, led by .
the SCLC, began to first use martyrdom as a legitimate tool in 1963. They would rely on their .
moral and religious strengths. Martin Luther King believed that "militancy is also the father of .
the non-violent way." (King p. 27) Military organization and detail went into every sit-in, picket, .
and march. Martin Luther King's final primer to his Letter from Birmingham Jail was to go into .
detail what Birmingham was like under Mayor Eugene "Bull" Connor. "You would have found a .
general atmosphere of violence and brutality in Birmingham." (King p. 35) Black and White .
alike lived in a state of fear, a fear that caused silence to the unjust way Black Americans were .
treated. Martin Luther King partnered with Fred Shuttlesworth to plan the Birmingham .
campaign. A campaign they believed "would be the toughest fight of (their) Civil Rights .
careers." (King p. 40) The Birmingham campaign used Black buying power as a weapon. The .
focus was to capitalize on the Easter rush for the greatest impact. A tie in the mayoral election .
caused several delays in the planning process as well as negative media coverage. The latter of .
which led to the need for King's Letter from Birmingham Jail.
.
Martin Luther King's Letter from Birmingham Jail begins with both an explanation to .
eight fellow clergymen of why he is writing the letter, "I feel that you are men of genuine good .
