From: John Murtari (jmurtari@thebook.com)
Date: Mon Jan 16 2012 - 17:59:03 EST
AKidsRight.Org - All the information in our messages if FREE for reuse as you desire. Subscribe/unsubscribe info at end of this message. ========================================= Good People & People of Faith, It's a common cliche we've all heard, "don't reinvent the wheel!" But a much harder one to avoid. Below is a letter Martin Luther King wrote from jail to explain his actions. I was amazed at how well his description of the injustice of segregation can be applied to the way our Family Law system treats families! His letter is so simple & practical in guidance. He describe four steps in the process, we have completed the first two, but need to work on the last two! Your FEEDBACK is welcome. John Murtari (jmurtari@AKidsRight.Org) The two links below are to the entire text, with an excerpt that follows. http://abacus.bates.edu/admin/offices/dos/mlk/letter.html http://www.thekingcenter.org/archive/document/mlks-letter-birmingham-jail-pulpit-digest LETTER FROM A BIRMINGHAM JAIL by Dr. Martin Luther King (in response to written criticism of his methods from other religious leaders in the community) April 16, 1963 MY DEAR FELLOW CLERGYMEN: While confined here in the Birmingham city jail, I came across your recent statement calling my present activities "unwise and untimely." Seldom do I pause to answer criticism of my work and ideas. If I sought to answer all the criticisms that cross my desk, my secretaries would have little time for anything other than such correspondence in the course of the day, and I would have no time for constructive work. But since I feel that you are men of genuine good will and that your criticisms are sincerely set forth, I want to try to answer your statements in what I hope will be patient and reasonable terms... You deplore the demonstrations taking place in Birmingham. But your statement, I am sorry to say, fails to express a similar concern for the conditions that brought about the demonstrations... It is unfortunate that demonstrations are taking place in Birmingham, but it is even more unfortunate that the city's white power structure left the Negro community with no alternative. IN ANY NONVIOLENT CAMPAIGN THERE ARE FOUR BASIC STEPS: COLLECTION OF THE FACTS TO DETERMINE WHETHER INJUSTICES EXIST; NEGOTIATION; SELF-PURIFICATION; AND DIRECT ACTION. We have gone through all of these steps in Birmingham. There can be no gainsaying the fact that racial injustice engulfs this community. Birmingham is probably the most thoroughly segregated city in the United States. Its ugly record of brutality is widely known. Negroes have experienced grossly unjust treatment in the courts. There have been more unsolved bombings of Negro homes and churches in Birmingham than in any other city in the nation. These are the hard, brutal facts of the case. On the basis of these conditions, Negro leaders sought to negotiate with the city fathers. But the latter consistently refused to engage in good-faith negotiation. Then, last September, came the opportunity to talk with leaders of Birmingham's economic community. In the course of the negotiations, certain promises were made by the merchants --- for example, to remove the stores humiliating racial signs. On the basis of these promises, the Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth and the leaders of the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights agreed to a moratorium on all demonstrations. As the weeks and months went by, we realized that we were the victims of a broken promise. A few signs, briefly removed, returned; the others remained. As in so many past experiences, our hopes had been blasted, and the shadow of deep disappointment settled upon us. we had no alternative except to prepare for direct action, whereby WE WOULD PRESENT OUR VERY BODIES AS A MEANS OF LAYING OUR CASE BEFORE THE CONSCIENCE OF THE LOCAL AND THE NATIONAL COMMUNITY. MINDFUL OF THE DIFFICULTIES INVOLVED, WE DECIDED TO UNDERTAKE A PROCESS OF SELF-PURIFICATION. WE BEGAN A SERIES OF WORKSHOPS ON NONVIOLENCE, AND WE REPEATEDLY ASKED OURSELVES : "ARE YOU ABLE TO ACCEPT BLOWS WITHOUT RETALIATING?" "ARE YOU ABLE TO ENDURE THE ORDEAL OF JAIL?" We decided to schedule our direct-action program for the Easter season, realizing that except for Christmas, this is the main shopping period of the year. Knowing that a strong economic withdrawal program would be the by-product of direct action, we felt that this would be the best time to bring pressure to bear on the merchants for the needed change. Then it occurred to us that Birmingham's mayoralty election was coming up in March, and we speedily decided to postpone action until after election day. When we discovered that the Commissioner of Public Safety, Eugene "Bull" Connor, had piled up enough votes to be in the run-off we decided again to postpone action until the day after the run-off so that the demonstrations could not be used to cloud the issues. Like many others, we waited to see Mr. Connor defeated, and to this end we endured postponement after postponement. Having aided in this community need, we felt that our direct-action program could be delayed no longer. YOU MAY WELL ASK: "WHY DIRECT ACTION? WHY SIT-INS, MARCHES AND SO FORTH? ISN'T NEGOTIATION A BETTER PATH?" You are quite right in calling, for negotiation. Indeed, this is the very purpose of direct action. Nonviolent direct action seeks to create such a crisis and foster such a tension that a community which has constantly refused to negotiate is forced to confront the issue. It seeks to so dramatize the issue that it can no longer be ignored. My citing the creation of tension as part of the work of the nonviolent-resister may sound rather shocking. But I must confess that I am not afraid of the word "tension." I have earnestly opposed violent tension, but there is a type of constructive, nonviolent tension which is necessary for growth. Just as Socrates felt that it was necessary to create a tension in the mind so that individuals could rise from the bondage of myths and half-truths to the unfettered realm of creative analysis and objective appraisal, we must we see the need for nonviolent gadflies to create the kind of tension in society that will help men rise from the dark depths of prejudice and racism to the majestic heights of understanding and brotherhood. THE PURPOSE OF OUR DIRECT-ACTION PROGRAM is to create a situation so crisis-packed that it will inevitably open the door to negotiation. I therefore concur with you in your call for negotiation. Too long has our beloved Southland been bogged down in a tragic effort to live in monologue rather than dialogue...... (For the remainder) http://abacus.bates.edu/admin/offices/dos/mlk/letter.html http://www.thekingcenter.org/archive/document/mlks-letter-birmingham-jail-pulpit-digest -- John ________________________________________________________________ Customer Service Software Workshop Inc. jmurtari@thebook.com "software that fits!" (TM) (315) 944-0999 (x-211) http://www.thebook.com/ ` ========================================= http://www.AKidsRight.Org/ A Kid's Right to Both Parents! --- Newsletter@kids-right.org To REMOVE YOURSELF FROM THE LIST go to: http://kids-right.org/mailman/listinfo/newsletter
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Mon Jan 21 2013 - 18:34:19 EST