MLK Day is a day for quiet reflection.
January 2022
Next Monday, we celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday
The state of Alabama played a critical role in the Civil Rights Movement. King wrote a letter from his Birmingham jail cell after being arrested in April of 1963 for violating Alabama’s mass public demonstration law, as outlined on the King Institute’s website. The letter was in response to clergymen’s criticism of the Civil Rights campaign. One event leading up to his arrest was the march from the Sixth Avenue Baptist Church to a police wagon. Once in his cell, King penned a letter that was republished in the New York Post, Ebony Magazine and the Birmingham News, which criticized the “wait” mentality white clergymen were supporting during that time. In essence, they wanted those campaigning for Civil Rights to “stand down” and called them extremists.
An excerpt of the letter:
“Never before have I written so long a letter. I’m afraid it is much too long to take your precious time. I can assure you that it would have been much shorter if I had been writing from a comfortable desk, but what else can one do when he is alone in a narrow jail cell, other than write long letters, think long thoughts and pray long prayers?” (King, Why, 94–95).
From the King Institute website:
King also decried the inaction of white moderates such as the clergymen, charging that human progress “comes through the tireless efforts of men willing to be co-workers with God, and without this hard work, time itself becomes an ally of the forces of social stagnation” (King, Why, 89).
King’s letter is one of the single most important documents written during the Civil Rights era.
Alabama has a number of places that visitors can learn about the history of the Civil Rights Movement:
Sixteenth Baptist Church - Birmingham, Alabama:
This church was built in 1873 and is a cornerstone of Birmingham’s Civil Rights District. It is the site of the bombing where four little girls were killed while attending Sunday school. The bombing was one of the single most important events that led to nationwide outcries for unity. A public, solemn memorial entitled, “The Four Spirits” now stands across the street from the Sixteenth Baptist Church. These sculptures depict one of the most tragic events in Alabama history and emotionally memorialize the four young girls who lost their lives in the 1960s.
Birmingham Civil Rights Institute - Birmingham, Alabama:
This state-of-the-art, multi-media facility traces the history of post-World War I racial segregation to present day’s racial progress. The museum is a living memorial to those who fought for Civil Rights as well as a place that enlightens generations about civil and human rights.
Freedom Riders National Monument - Anniston, Alabama:
Murals in the alleyways of the old Greyhound and Trailways Bus station depict scenes from the attack on Freedom Riders on May 11, 1961.
The Legacy Museum - Montgomery, Alabama:
The museum is managed by the Equal Justice Initiative, the Montgomery-based nonprofit organization that challenges racial injustice and mass incarceration of Blacks. They sponsor two memorials that spotlight the history of lynchings during the post-Civil War Reconstruction and Jim Crow eras.
The Dexter Parsonage Museum - Montgomery, Alabama:
This museum provides public access to the residence formerly occupied by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and his family. An interpretive center chronicles the history that led to the Montgomery Bus Boycott to the Civil Rights Movement.
The list above is a short snapshot of the places where you can take time for quiet reflection on MLK Day and on the man and the impact he made on today’s society. Learn more about Alabama’s role in the Civil Rights Movement by downloading the Alabama Civil Rights Trail app or by listening to the Alabama Civil Rights Trail podcast.
Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that. ~ Martin Luther King, Jr.