Civil Disobedience
thibbi2001
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Pursuit: The Journal of Undergraduate
Research at the University of Tennessee
Volume 8, Issue 1 (2017) PURSUIT
ACase Study Analysis of the “Letter fromBirmingham Jail”: Conceptualizing the Conscience of King through the Lens of
Paulo Freire
TREMAINE T. SAILS-DUNBAR
American Baptist College, Nashville, TN
Advisor: Dr. Robert Hassell
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
Copyright is held by the author(s).
The pedagogical qualities of Martin King’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail” can be observed
through the lens of Paulo Freire as his illustration of thematic universe’s can be used as
a framework to contextualize the conscience of King. King encountered obstacles, in his
contemporary context, to his self-actualization that once cognitively subjugated were trans-
formative to his being. Three questions are explored: What manifestations led to the writing
of the “Letter from Birmingham Jail”? What were King’s transformative actions? Will an
answer to the first help make sense of the second? I endeavor to briefly examine the “Letter
from Birmingham Jail” through the lens of Paulo Freire.
PURSUIT 139 Volume 8, Issue 1
Introduction
Martin Luther King, Jr. is a Civil Rights icon whose actions are firmly cemented in American
history. Lewis Baldwin, a leading scholar on King’s life and thought, argues, “Martin Luther King,
Jr. was one of the greatest prophets and distinguished reformers to emerge from the American
South.”1 While King was incarcerated, he wrote the “Letter from Birmingham Jail” as a response
to an article authored by eight white clergymen, entitled “A Call for Unity.”2 His involvement in the
CivilRightsMovementof the1960smakeshimaprominentfigureofdiscussion inacademiccircles.
It is of no surprise, then, that his seminal work, the “Letter fromBirmingham Jail,” has been studied
from a variety of perspectives, including its logic, philosophy, and prose.3
However, fewer scholars have analyzed the "Letter fromBirmingham Jail” through a pedagog-
ical lens. Undoubtedly, King was as an exceptional leader in the Civil Rights Movement, but by
the nature of King’s historical context, he held the power to improve the lived experience of black
Americans. In this paper, I will engage King’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail” through Paulo Freire’s
pedagogical theory present in the Pedagogy of the Oppressed.4 Paulo Freire asserts in Pedagogy
of the Oppressed that because we are aware of life, we can “take it on,” and construct it; and be-
cause we can construct it, we can transform its configuration.5 Moreover, for Freire the struggle
for liberation is one that is rooted in the existential reality of human interactions, the products of
these interactions, and the creation and challenging of historical realities. In this paper I use Paulo
Freire’s Pedagogy of theOppressed as a framework to contextualize the thought process of King as
it pertains to his understanding of the need for non-violent direct action in Birmingham, Alabama,
which I denominate the conscience of King.
FollowingFreire’s lead, I explore the thoughtpatternsof theoppressed, and then thatofKingas
it is present in his “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” I first provide a historical overview of the context
in which King was writing by exploring the specific incidents in Birmingham, Alabama, that led to
nonviolent direct action and King’s subsequent arrest. I then turn to the text itself and focus on an
obstacle of liberation for King - segregation in Birmingham. Next, I briefly discuss King’s transfor-
mative action - nonviolent direct action against segregation. In particular, I argue that King’s text
suggests his disapproval of racialized signs posted by downtown businesses, and that through his
awareness he was able to lead a nonviolent demonstration. Finally, I reflect on how King’s letter
provides a template for marginalized communities in America today.
Historical Context
In 1963, Birmingham appeared to be an ideal southern city to travelers. David Lewis observes,
“Birmingham, the whites said, was a ‘good’ city.”6 Upon entering the city limits, travelers would en-
counter a billboard posted by the Chamber of Commerce that read, “It’s so nice to have you in
Birmingham.”7 Yet, therewas drastic contrast in political participation between thewhite andblack
population. Of the 80,000 registered voters in 1963, only 12.5% (10,000) were black.8 Of the
total population (340,887), Blacks accounted for 39.6% (135,113).9 Statistically speaking, many
black residentswere unrepresented by the city's political leaders. Even in the iron and steel indus-
tries segregationwas rigidly and brutally enforced.10 The city’s Commissioner of Public Safety, Bill
Connor, helped enforce segregation in Birminghamby terrorizing black citizenswho attempted to
challenge it.11
The ethos of segregation was seemingly a part of everyday life for residents of Birmingham.
Jonathan S. Basswrites, “Even the younger generation ofwhites in theDeep South had instruction
while on their ‘Mother’s knee,’ that blacks were ‘inferior, dishonest, diseased, degenerate,’ happy
withsegregation, andperhapsnotquitehuman.”12Ayearprior, studentsattendingMilesboycotted
local stores in 1962. Their campaign insisted that blacks not shop at downtown merchants for
eightweekswhich resulted in a 40%decline, and twodepartment stores desegregated theirwater
fountains.13 Their political action in Birminghamwas one of several events that ledMartin Luther
King to believe Birmingham was an ideal city to hold a nonviolent demonstration.14 It is useful to
study how these conditions led to the emergence of activism in Birmingham, for these conditions
PURSUIT 140 Volume 8, Issue 1
led to the establishment of Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth’s organization, the Alabama Christian
Movement for Human Rights (ACMHR). This organization had very strong ties with Dr. King’s
Southern LeadershipChristianConference (SCLC). TheAMCHRsupported theMilesCollege stu-
dents in their boycott, and theSCLC followed suit by holding their conference inBirmingham in the
autumn of 1962.
After the student-led protest, the AMCHRmet with a white civic organization, the Senior Cit-
izens Committee (SCC), to discuss solutions to relieve growing angst in Birmingham.15 The two
groups created a contract as an attempt to eliminate the possibility of a larger demonstration in
Birmingham. The SCCmisled the AMCHR by failing to uphold the agreement that they would re-
move “whites only” signs from downtown department stores to relieve the racial tension between
blacks andwhites. Lewis explains, “aside from the organizational ties between theACMHRand the
SCLC and the warm friendship of Martin [Luther King] and Fred Shuttlesworth, the racism of this
city was archetypal.”13 With previous agreements to suppress large demonstrations having failed,
Birminghamwasan ideal stage for large-scaledemonstrative action throughnonviolent resistance.
It seems that King was called by affiliation of suffering, and of conviction, to participate in the ac-
tion inBirmingham. David Lewis contends, “To ameliorate the condition of the black inBirmingham
would constitute a victory over JimCrow, the repercussions ofwhichwould be felt throughout the
South.”14 Hence, thousands of blacks began to mobilize in order to claim a city that was gravely
failing in issues of equality. Dr. King’s much quoted line, that an “injustice anywhere is a threat to
justice everywhere,” materialized from thesemoments of angst.16
Unfortunately, certain individuals in the local and federal government did not believe in
the protestors' cause. Attorney General Robert Kennedy had been one of the first to voice his
criticism.17 It is possible that the Attorney General’s reproach influenced Dr. King’s decision to
meet with his brother, President John F. Kennedy, on October 16, 1963, to discuss discriminatory
policies in the South. President Kennedy seemed to be committed to the cause of desegregation,
but hewas slow tomove. Additionally, leaders in Birmingham refused to leave their offices, making
it difficult for younger, more progressive, officials to emerge. Dr. Kingwrote inWhyWeCan’tWait,
“Despite the results of the run-off, the city commissioners ... had taken the position that they could
not be legally removed fromoffice until 1965.”18 This interactionwith thePresident, in conjunction
with less politically influential sources, impelled King and leaders of the demonstration to embark
upon an intentional campaign, ‘Project X.’ The name of the campaign was changed when members
of the council recognized the possibility of violence.19 Diane McWhorter observes that ‘Project
X’ became ‘Project C’ “for ‘Confrontation’: jail-filling, history making demonstrations, during the
symbolically freighted Easter season.”20
Their proposed strategy was devised so that it would not suffer from the same faults as cam-
paigns of the past. For instance, King’s campaign in Albany had ended in defeat, and his protest
resulted in him being ousted from the city.21 As a result, some of the leaders in Birmingham lost
their faith in King’s ability to lead a nonviolent demonstration in their city. Birmingham’s black
leaders were cautious of Dr. King’s movement as knowledge of the action had spread by word of
mouth. King desired to maintain a level of secrecy until the action began. Still, anticipation around
the planned action grew tremendously.
There was resistancewithin the black religious community from leaders who rejected the idea
of a demonstration in Birmingham. Black preachers questioned King’s ability as many had not got-
ten over his defeat in Albany, and believed that King was incapable of completing a demonstration
without leaving the black community in a far worse condition than it was before the campaign be-
gan. The action was originally set to take place in early March at the end of the mayoral election,
but Connor and his challenger, another white supremacist, were tied. The stage was set, but the
campaign was postponed until late spring.
In early April of 1963, the ‘Project C’ campaign aides delivered a manifesto to the Birmingham
newspaper. It was a purposeful tactic of activism because it made demonstrators’ issues publish-
able. Newspapers could receive details from the perspectives of the protesters, and protesters
could consolidate their message in one document. Those who volunteered went to great lengths
to show their intended audience that they were loyal Americans fighting for their civil rights.
PURSUIT 141 Volume 8, Issue 1
They approached the day spirit-led and tactfully. Before volunteers were separated by assign-
ments, they had to sign an oath committing themselves to Christian values and nonviolent prac-
tices:
I hereby pledgemyself -myperson andbody - to the nonviolentmovement. Therefore
I will keep the following Ten Commandments: Meditate, Remember, Walk and Talk,
Pray, Sacrifice, Observe, Seek, Refrain, Strive, and Follow.22
Dr. King and leaders urged demonstrators to accept these principles without enmity.
Protestors took to the streets and began to march in downtown Birmingham. However, there
was an unusual quietness exuding fromCommissioner Connor, who acted uncharacteristically po-
lite, althoughheallowedpolice officers tobriefly show their dogs to the crowdsonpreviousdays. It
is possible that his involvement in the runoff led him to usemore diplomaticmeans to suppress the
action. Contrarily, Dr. Kingmade his stance clear on the use of nonviolent tactics used to suppress
the struggle towards justice. “So I have tried tomake it clear that it is wrong to use immoral means
to attain moral ends,” he evinced, ”But now I must affirm that it is just as wrong, even more, to use
moral means to preserve immoral ends.”23 They continued to protest for several more days, and
Connor began to change his approach. OnApril 10th, the city administration secured an injunction
from JudgeWilliam A Jenkins Jr., banning all protest.24
Dr. King and leaders in Birminghamwere faced with the decision of whether to violate the law
or abide by it. Dr. King was vigilant in his desire to be guided by his Christian faith. His theologi-
cal background influenced his actions heavily. As a student at Atlanta’s Morehouse College, King
studiedsociologyanddevelopedastrong interest in thebehaviorof social groupsandtheeconomic
and cultural arrangements of southern society.25 It is of no surprise that Dr. King was prepared to
break the law as a blackChristianwho understood social class and racism. It seems that his actions
were so heavily influenced by his need to be in accordancewith his Christian faith that hewaswill-
ing to risk jail time for the sake of his religion. “By combining social analysis with biblical piety and
theological liberalism,” says Lewis Baldwin, “King employed creative nonviolence and civil disobe-
dience as he and his followers challenged the structures of racial and economic injustice in Albany,
Birmingham…”26 Kingwaswell aware of the repercussions of his actions andwas ready to face the
legal system for his civil rights.
Yet King’s dilemma grewworse. Word had gotten back to the black leaders in Birmingham that
a large portion of the protesters would be jailed if the protest continued. King was forced to ei-
ther acquiesce to Connor or go to jail. If he were out of jail, he could raise funds for the release of
the other protestors, maids, janitors, and others who had families that would need them after the
demonstrations had been completed. It was a difficult dilemma for him at that time. He reflected
on his thoughts in this moment inWhyWe Can’t Wait:
Then my mind leaped beyond the Gaston Motel, past the city jail, past city lines and
state lines, and I thought of twenty million black people who dreamed that someday
they might be able to cross the Red Sea of injustice and find their way to the promise
land of integration and freedom. There was nomore room for doubt.25
He knew that he would personally sacrifice time in jail and believed that through his faith it
would work out. “I’m going to jail. I don’t know what will happen,” he stated. “I don’t know where
themoney will come from. But I have to a make a faith act.”26
On April 12, King spoke the next morning at a church, and selected fifty people that were will-
ing to go to jail. Demonstrators left the church andwere subsequently arrestedbyEugeneConnor.
After his arrest, King was separated from the group and was denied access to a telephone and le-
gal counsel. Though King was startled by the conditions he faced in solitary confinement, he was
prepared by the means of his nonviolent approach. Chaiwat Satha-Anad asserts in Between Non-
violence as a Pragmatic Strategy and a Principled Way of Life that practitioners of “principled non-
violence view the opponent as a partner in the struggle to satisfy the needs of all; if anyone suffers,
it is the practitioner of nonviolence. More fundamentally, this practitioner may view nonviolence
PURSUIT 142 Volume 8, Issue 1
as a way of life.”27 Thus, Dr. King, in the darkness of his cell, suffered only to be granted contact
with his lawyer days later. When King’s lawyer arrived at his cell on Good Friday, April 12, 1963,
he brought a newspaper article entitled “A Call for Unity” with him. The article, written by a group
ofwhite clergymen,28 referenced a previous article they published in the city’s newspaper entitled
“An Appeal for Law and Order and Common Sense”. In the short “An Appeal for Law and Order
and Common Sense”, they abjured the protest efforts of citizens and urged demonstrators toward
the courts as a means to rectify the racial divide. It is of no surprise, then, that ``A Call for Unity''
held a similar stance on issues of race. In it, the authors acknowledged the crisis in Birminghambut
admonished demonstrators’ nonviolent approach. They believed it createdmore tension than rec-
onciliation. King disagreedwith the authors andwrote a response in themargins of the newspaper
that his lawyer snuck in to his cell. In this way, we can begin to understand King’s thought pattern,
and how he challenged segregation for himself and other blacks in Birmingham.
Analysis
TosynthesizeKing'shistorical realitywithFreire's theoryof liberation, Iwill analyzeKing’s “Let-
ter from Birmingham Jail” alongside Paulo Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed. King’s letter was a
product of his historical reality, as an oppressed black man in America in 1963. Because of this,
we can engage King, as Freire engaged the oppressed, as one who was oppressed but became un-
fettered fromoppression through objectifying and acting against social structures and institutions
that inhibited his ability to act freely. King was aware that unjust laws and racism were structures
that could be changed. He viewed these systems and institutions as the product of a racialized
system in which blacks endured substandard conditions comparative to their white counterparts.
Ultimately, King challenged segregation as an institution that inhibited his human agency.29 King
was able to educate other oppressed people and assist them in recognizing their potential to over-
comesituations that limited their agency. I begin this sectionbyprovidingabrief summaryofKing’s
“Letter fromBirmingham Jail.” Then, I explain the transformation process, fromoppressed to liber-
ated, as detailed by Freire. Lastly, I provide a comparative analysis of King’s letter alongside the
themes present within Pedagogy of the Oppressed.
The “Letter from Birmingham Jail” is an eloquent response to ``A Call for Unity.'' King begins
by first explaining why he is in Birmingham, noting that an affiliate organization invited him. He
expresses his disappointment in liberal white churches, arguing that their repudiation of demon-
stratorswas unsound. Moreover, he admonishes them for not repudiating the events that brought
about the protest. He further reproves his critics for urging protestors to be patient with the legal
system, noting that silence and complacency against racism are farworse than overt racist actions.
He explains that he is doing what he believes is right and explains how blacks are reacting to seg-
regation differently. For example, one group agrees with segregation because they are benefitting
economically, and others are black nationalists who are radically advocating a violent separation of
the races. King insists that he stands between the two, and offers his passive approach as a way to
bring about change in Birmingham. He believes the Black community has waited long enough for
equal access to downtown businesses and should not have to walk in the backdoor of businesses.
He closes the letter by lamentinghis disappointment in the actions of liberalwhite clergymembers,
as he thought they would be his greatest allies.
The “Letter fromBirmingham Jail” is a channel throughwhich onemay view the deep complex-
ities of King’s reality and the reality for many blacks in Birmingham in 1963. For instance, on the
fourth page, King reveals black Americans' desire for equality when he writes, “Oppressed people
cannot remain oppressed forever. The urge for freedomwill eventually come. This iswhat has hap-
pened to the American Negro.”30 Through examining “The Letter from Birmingham Jail” through
the framework of the Pedagogy of the Oppressedwe can contextualize King’s historical reality, and
examine how his letter was used as a medium for teaching oppressed blacks in 1963.
Freire asserts in Pedagogy of the Oppressed that human history and historical periods are the
product of human action. Theworldwould no longer exist if human action, and the results of these
actions, did not exist. The world in which humans live is one that is always being challenged, due
PURSUIT 143 Volume 8, Issue 1
to the finitude of human imagination and ability. However, humans throughout history have tri-
umphed over such challenges. A human being’s triumph is contingent upon the human’s under-
standing of the product of its action, which ultimately allows the human to adjust and adapt in
a complex world. As human action and the product of its actions aggregate, social institutions,
culture, and concepts, intangible and tangible realities are created. Hence, historical periods are
characterized by a complex interaction of social institutions, cultures, and ideas, intangible and
tangible.31
Freire’s theoretical elucidation of anoppressed individual’s reality in a givenhistoricalmoment,
orepoch, helpsexplain fromatheoretical standpoint thecomplexitiesofKing’s socio-historical con-
text:
“An epoch is characterized by a complex of ideas, concepts, hopes, doubts, values, and
challenges in dialectical interaction with their opposites striving towards plenitude.
The concrete representation of these ideas, values, concepts, and hopes, as well as
the obstacles which impede the people’s full humanization, constitutes the themes of
that epoch.32”
“The juxtaposition of competing themes within a historical epoch,” says Robert London Smith in A
Practical Theology for Black Churches, “makes up a thematic universe.”33 Thematic universes are
complex historical realities, comprised of social institutions, ideologies, cultures, and customs, that
affect individuals and historical groups in a positive or a negative manner. In a manner of terms,
history is the creation of human beings.
History, to the human being, is tripartite: the past, present, and future are direct reflections
of human beings' ability to create products that are separate from themselves, while at the same
time in interactionwith other products fromother humanbeings. The past has been, the present is
becoming, and the future is what has not yet been. The future is forecasted through human under-
standingof theprocessof thepastbecoming thepresent. Humansunderstand thepasthasbecome
the present, the present will become the past, and the future will become the present. Freire as-
serts that the complex interaction of these systems constitutes the relationship between humans
and historical themes, or the social institutions, cultures, and set of ideas of a historical period.33
Themes can have a geographical component, however, and many can exist in a given historical
period. Nevertheless, Freire asserts that domination/subjugation is a universal aspect that is un-
derlying in every theme.34 Liberation, its antithetical opponent, is thus the goal of those who are
obstructed by its limits.35 Smaller themes, which are more likely to be geographically based, are
compiled together tomake larger national themes. Freire argues that it is impossible for the larger
themes of a historical period to not exist within its subsets. If individuals in a particular area cannot
perceive elements of a larger theme, then they may face a limit situation.36 Hence the American
ideal of democracy was present in Birmingham. However, racism, its subset, inhibited the agency
of many blacks in the city. In King's geographical context, he stood at odds with the larger theme
of America democracy because he was black in the South in 1963. King displayed that he could
not participate in the larger theme of American democracy unless he overcame his limit situation
in Birmingham.
Some may suggest that racism in Birmingham was not a limit situation for King because King
lived in Atlanta. However, King saw the struggle for the civil rights of black Americans as one that
was connected:
“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable
networkofmutuality, tied in a single garmentof destiny. Whatever affects onedirectly
affects all indirectly. Never again canweafford to livewith thenarrow, provincial "out-
side agitator" idea. Anyonewho lives inside theUnitedStates canneverbe considered
an outsider.''37
King'swords suggest that his limit situationwas not one thatwas isolated to a particular city, state,
or to himself. He realized that segregation was an impediment to his self-actualization and that
PURSUIT 144 Volume 8, Issue 1
because the limit situation was based on the color of his skin, that those who looked like himmust
undoubtedly encounter the same limit situation. That is, segregationwas an obstacle to King's and
black Americans in Birmingham’s liberation. He took several steps to participate in transformative
practice: first, he observed the situation in Birmingham, then he identified the limit situation, then
he, through nonviolent direct action, participated in transformative practice.
King perceived that Birmingham, though a prosperous society, treated blacks differently than
itsothercitizens. Thesubjective realityofblackswasdrasticallydifferent fromthatofwhites. Some
may argue that is a statement of the obvious, however, I argue in any oppressive historical period
there are complex interactions that create varying perspectives, or opposing views, in historical
situations. Hence, oppression may serve the needs of the oppressor, but seldom if ever of the op-
pressed. Objectification of reality by the oppressed is necessary for them to overcome limit situa-
tions and to teach others to do the same. King is no exception:
“There can be no gainsaying of the fact that racial injustice engulfs this community.
Birmingham is probably the most thoroughly segregated city in the United States. Its
ugly recordofpolicebrutality is known inevery sectionof this country. Its unjust treat-
ment of Negroes in the courts is a notorious reality. There have been more unsolved
bombings of Negro homes and churches in Birmingham than in any other city in this
nation. These are the hard, brutal, and unbelievable facts.''38
ToKing, segregationwas an obstruction and an opportunity. He saw in it the ability for blacks to be
free, and overcome their societal constraints. Though seemingly minuscule, Freire states that an
individual’s ability to overcome limit situations are what makes them differ from animals.
Humans have the capacity to commit themselves beyond the present. Animals are ahistorical,
meaning that they live in the present and cannot escape it. As conscious beings, humans exist in
the relationship between their limits and their freedom: their past, their present, and their future.
Hence, an obstacle of liberation is a situation that though in the present, which eventually becomes
the past, can be overcome in the present leaving unforeseeable possibilities in the future. King un-
derstood his primary obstacle to be segregation, and he sought to eliminate it through nonviolent
direct action.
Limit situations are createdwhen themes of a historical period inhibit the production or action
of individuals in a historical period. These situations either serve or negatively affect people - they
either support the structures, institution, and ideas of a historical period or they obstruct it. Limit
situations do not create hopelessness, rather, it is the subjective perspective of one's reality that
gives credence to hopelessness or optimism.39 Overcoming limit situations is cyclical. As one limit
situation is overcome, newones emerge so that the individualmust overcome newobstructions to
their agency.
Fromapedagogical standpoint, it is important that themanydimensionsof a givenhistorical re-
ality are presented in a manner that allows the populace to engage them. Secondly, an individual’s
subjective experience should be understood as portions of a larger historical construct, or theme,
so that individuals can grasp the reality of their oppression in concreteness. By this, the presenter
may introduce to individuals a new critical way to view their limits.40 It is through reflection and
action that people may become independent of created cultures, social institutions, and concepts,
tangible and intangible.41 King's participation in ‘Project C’ offers a realworld circumstance to ex-
amine Freire’s pedagogical theory. As the leader of ‘Project C’ he was able teach oppressed blacks
in Birmingham how to challenge their limits and increase their ability to act in life:
“Now, what is the difference between the two? How does one determine when a law
is just or unjust? A just law is aman-made code that squares with themoral law, or the
law of God. An unjust law is a code that is out of harmony with the moral law. To put
it in the terms of St. Thomas Aquinas, an unjust law is a human law that is not rooted
in eternal and natural law. Any law that uplifts human personality is just. Any law that
degradeshumanpersonality is unjust. All segregation statutes areunjustbecause seg-
regation distorts the soul and damages the personality. It gives the segregator a false
PURSUIT 145 Volume 8, Issue 1
sense of superiority and the segregated a false sense of inferiority. To use the words
of Martin Buber, the great Jewish philosopher, segregation substitutes an "I - it" rela-
tionship for the "I - thou" relationship and ends up relegating persons to the status of
things. So segregation is not only politically, economically, and sociologically unsound,
but it ismorallywrong and sinful. Paul Tillich has said that sin is separation. Isn't segre-
gation an existential expression of man's tragic separation, an expression of his awful
estrangement, his terrible sinfulness? So I can urge men to obey the 1954 decision of
the Supreme Court because it is morally right, and I can urge them to disobey segre-
gation ordinances because they are morally wrong.42”
King identified segregation as an immoral code that affected black Americans negatively. As a ped-
agogical leader, he led blacks in a struggle to increase their ability to act as human beings. In short,
‘Project C’ gave blacks whomay not have been able to see the reality of their oppression a chance
to overcome it and participate in the larger theme of American democracy.
Conclusion
The preceding paragraphs highlight the thought process of King and how he came to the con-
clusion that nonviolentdirect actionwasanecessary struggle to takeplace inBirmingham. I argued
that King's nonviolent demonstration is equivalent to Freire's idea of transformative practice. On
the one hand, King challenged his socio-historical context by defying laws he sawas an impediment
to his and others' civil rights, as a citizen of the United States. On the other, King identified the
American south, particularly Birmingham, Alabama, as an ideal location to confront his limited abil-
ity to act in the American democratic system. King influenced the historical reality of many as a
pedagogical teacher who taught oppressed blacks to challenge segregation, a situation that lim-
ited them. In ThePedagogy of theOppressed, Freire presents a theory that explains the course that
oppressed peoplesmust take to achieve liberation. His theory, though abstract by nature, has par-
ticularities that can be applied and understood in realworld situations. It is no surprise, then, that
when examined alongsideKing’s “Letter fromBirminghamJail,” similarities in their approaches and
methodologies arise.
Acknowledgements
Thisworkwas supportedby theMcNairScholarsprogram(U.S.DepartmentofEducationgrant
#P217A130148).
References
1. Baldwin, Lewis V. There Is a Balm in Gilead: the Cultural Roots ofMartin Luther King, Jr.Min-
neapolis: Fortress Press, 1991, 9.
2. ``A Call for Unity'' was published in Birmingham on April 12, 1963, by eight white south-
ern clergymenwhoencouragedBirminghamprotesters todesist fromtheir protests against
racism and segregation, and to seek the courts as a viable means of resolution.
3. See, forexample,Miller, Keith. “MartinLutherKing, Jr. BorrowsaRevolution: Argument, Au-
dience, and Implications of a Secondhand Universe.” College English 48, no. 3 (Mar., 1986):
249-265.; Burrow, Lewis V. Baldwin with Rufus, Jr., Barbara A. Holmes, and Susan Holmes
Winfield. The Legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr.: The Boundaries of Law, Politics, and Reli-
gion. Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 2002.; Tunstall, Dwayne A. Yes, But
NotQuite: Encountering JosiahRoyce's Ethico-Religious Insight. NewYork: FordhamUniver-
sity Press, 2009.; Leff, Michael, and EbonyUtley. “Instrumental andConstitutive Rhetoric in
Martin Luther King Jr.'s 'Letter from Birmingham Jail'.” Rhetoric and Public Affairs 7, no. 1
(Spring 2004): 37-51.; Colaiaco, James. “The American Dream Unfulfilled: Martin Luther
PURSUIT 146 Volume 8, Issue 1
King, Jr. and the 'Letter from Birmingham Jail'.” Phylon (1960-) 45, no. 1 (1st qtr., 1984):
1-18.; Bass, S. Jonathan. Blessed Are the Peacemakers: Martin Luther King, Jr., Eight White
Religious Leaders, and the “Letter from Birmingham Jail”. Baton Rouge, LA: LSU Press, 2001,
1-22.
4. In this paper, I define transformative practice as an individual’s subjective and personal chal-
lenge to the systems and people that inhibit its ability to act in freedom. Freire, Paulo. Ped-
agogy of the Oppressed. 30th ed. New York: Bloomsbury Academic, 2000, 98-110. Paulo
Freire reinterprets comments from Edmund Husserl concerning the intentionality of per-
ception. Freire brings to focus objects in one’s consciousness that Husserl left out of focus.
Bringing objects in the background of one’s consciousness to the forefront allows for more
possibilities and decisions for individuals. Additionally, there may be obstacles of liberation
(stumbling blocks that hinder one’s ability to overcome circumstances that limit one’s ability
to act.)
5. Ibid.
6. Lewis, David Levering. King: A Biography. 3rd ed. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2012,
171-190.
7. Ibid.
8. Ibid.
9. "Birmingham Public Library - Birmingham's Population, 1880-2000." Birmingham Public Li-
brary - Birmingham's Population, 1880-2000. Accessed November 15, 2016. http://www.
bplonline.org/resources/government/BirminghamPopulation.aspx.
10. Patterson, Lillie. Martin Luther King, Jr., and the FreedomMovement (Makers of America).
New York: Facts on File, 1989.
11. Lewis, King: A Biography, 172.
12. Bass, Blessed Are the Peacemakers, 10.
13. "Civil Rights Documentary Focuses on Campaign Led by Miles College Students." Break-
ing News & Weather - Birmingham and Central AL - WBRC FOX6 News - Birmingham,
AL. Accessed November 15, 2016. http://www.wbrc.com/story/24633804/civil-rights-
documentary-focuses-on-campaign-led-by-miles-college-students.
14. King, Martin Luther, Jr. WhyWe Can't Wait. New York: Signet, 2000, 54.
15. Lewis, King: A Biography, 173.
16. King, Martin Luther, Jr. ``Letter from the Birmingham Jail''. San Francisco: HarperCollins,
1994, 1-6.
17. Ibid, 1.
18. King,WhyWe Can’t Wait, 68.
19. Ibid.
20. McWhorter, Diane. CarryMeHome: Birmingham, Alabama: The Climactic Battle of the Civil
Rights Revolution. Reissue ed. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2013, 308.
21. King, Martin Luther, and Clayborne Carson. The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr.
New York: Intellectual PropertiesManagement in Association withWarner Books, 1998.
22. King,WhyWe Can’t Wait, 69.
PURSUIT 147 Volume 8, Issue 1
23. King, “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, 1.
24. King,WhyWe Can’t Wait, 72.
25. Colaiaco, James.Martin Luther King, Jr.: Apostle ofMilitantNonviolence. London: Macmillan
Press, 1988, 62.
26. Oates, Stephen B. Let the Trumpet Sound: A Life of Martin Luther King, Jr. (P.S.). Reissue ed.
New York: Harper Perennial, 2013, 221.
27. Satha-Anad,Chaiwat. Civil Resistance: ComparativePerspectives onNonviolent Struggle (So-
cial Movements, Protest and Contention) Kurt Schock, ed. Minneapolis: University of Min-
nesota Press, 2015, 291.
28. Carpenter, C.C.J., Durick, Joseph., Grafman., Hilton L., Hardin, Paul, Harmon, Nolan B., Mur-
ray, GeorgeM., Ramage, Edward V., Stallings, Earl. “Public Statement by eight Alabama cler-
gymen,” Birmingham News, April 12, 1963, http://www.massresistance.org/docs/gen/09a/
mlk_day/statement.html.
29. Freire classifies situations that limit an individual’s agency as limit situations. Limit situations
are situations that have the possibility, once overcome, to allow individuals to interact with
their environment more freely.
30. King, “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, 4.
31. Friere, Pedagogy of the Oppressed, 100.
32. Ibid, 101.
33. Smith, Robert London, and Jr. From Strength to Strength: Shaping a Black Practical Theology
for the 21st Century. New York: Peter Lang International Academic Publishers, 2007, 68.
34. Friere, Pedagogy of the Oppressed, 101.
35. Ibid.
36. Ibid, 103.
37. King, “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, 1.
38. Ibid.
39. Friere, Pedagogy of the Oppressed, 104.
40. Ibid.
41. Ibid, 101.
42. King, “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, 3.
PURSUIT 148 Volume 8, Issue 1
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