Part Three: Letter from a Birmingham Jail
Instructions
- Watch a short video about Martin Luther King, Jr., in Birmingham Jail (ca. 7 min). Ask students to listen for answers to the following questions: how did Martin Luther King, Jr., make the decision to go to jail? Why did King decided to write the letter? What role did his wife, Coretta Scott King, play while King was in jail?
- Read the Statement by Alabama Clergymen about the protest. What are the main arguments of the statement?
- Watch the short video about King's Letter from Birmingham Jail (ca. 7 min). Either as a class or in smaller groups have students read and answer the analysis questions for the "Letter from a Birmingham Jail." Depending on the level of your students, you may choose from two versions of the letter with analysis questions.
- Discussion Questions:
- How do we, as a society, define an unjust law and which strategies are most successful in changing that law? If we are able to abolish legal injustice will it also result in abolishing social injustice?
- What was the social, political and economic situation in Birmingham, Alabama before the spring of 1963?
Materials
Handouts:
- Letter from a Birmingham Jail Analysis 1
- Letter from a Birmingham Jail Analysis 2
Resources: