I’ve read and long admired Martin Luther King Jr.’s legendary Letter from a Birmingham Jail, which was written “while he was imprisoned for leading nonviolent civil rights demonstrations in Alabama in 1963. The Letter from Birmingham Jail explains why MLK believed people had a responsibility to follow just laws and a duty to break unjust ones.”
But somehow, I had only perused the antecedent, “A Call for Unity” (April 12, 1963 [Good Friday]) that MLK “chose to respond to while in the Birmingham Jail. The eight ministers had published a similar statement that winter as ‘An Appeal for Law and Order and Common Sense’ (also called ‘The White Ministers’ Law and Order Statement.”
They were an interesting group. “The Episcopal bishop, Charles Carpenter, for example, had opposed integration within his diocese, and two years later would work strongly against the Selma to Montgomery March, yet he did work for better relations between white clergy and those of color.”
Conversely, “the Baptist pastor Earl Stallings, the only one to be commended by King, had preached racial justice sermons in his church and would continue to advocate for racial justice for two more years in Birmingham, before his wife’s health issues forced them to seek another pastorate. “
Outside agitators
The letter noted “some evidence of increased forbearance and a willingness to face facts” about “racial friction and unrest…. However, we are now confronted by a series of demonstrations by some of our Negro citizens, directed and led in part by outsiders. We recognize the natural impatience of people who feel that their hopes are slow in being realized. But we are convinced that these demonstrations are unwise and untimely.”
The last paragraph: “We further strongly urge our own Negro community to withdraw support from these demonstrations, and to unite locally in working peacefully for a better Birmingham. When rights are consistently denied, a cause should be pressed in the courts and in negotiations among local leaders, and not in the streets. We appeal to both our white and Negro citizenry to observe the principles of law and order and common sense.”
Birmingham Jail, from which I excerpted in 2012. cogently addressed why waiting is not a viable option. One important sentence: ” I have earnestly opposed violent tension, but there is a type of constructive, nonviolent tension which is necessary for growth…”
I recommend this video to you, in which you hear both documents. It was a University of Texas at Austin project from 2010.
This is the 58th anniversary of the assassination of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
I was wondering why the list of the#1 hits of 1936 was so long. It was a function of the national economy. The record industry underwent an almost total collapse. By 1932, only six million records had been sold, compared with a peak of 140,000,000 just five years earlier.
My old blogger buddy 
I am conflicted. On one hand, I like the idea of an Fool in April post. Conversely, humor is very individualized. I see “jokes” on Quora or elsewhere that are unfunny, stupid, and/or outright offensive.