because King is affiliated with certain organizations in Birmingham

because King does not trust the white clergy to host fair negotiations

because a significant political election has just taken place in Birmingham

because Birmingham failed to keep promises made in earlier negotiations

King believes that the leaders have become entirely absorbed in secular rather than religious concerns.

King believes that the church has stolen and misused donations given by its poorest parishioners.

King believes that the leaders have not stood up boldly in support of civil rights.

King believes that the church has nothing relevant to offer to the youth of the 1960s.

He knows that many great leaders in history were extremists.

He knows that extremists are always violent and destructive.

He believes in extremism as an alternative to violence.

He believes in extremism as a guarantee of safety.

the celebration of an achievement that represents long and patient effort

a longing for springtime while in the depths of an icy winter

an increase in speed by a runner after she checks the time

a return to work after taking a lunch break

in a concentrated, fierce way

in a puzzled, confused way

in a cheerful, happy way

in a lazy, passive way

Tasha and Katie will meet at an earlier time than they had planned to do.

Tasha and Katie will meet at a later time than they had originally agreed.

Tasha and Katie decide to cancel the project they had considered.

Tasha and Katie change the agreed place of their appointment.

It applies to the “Negro sit inners and demonstrators” who show amazing discipline in their nonviolent protests, even when they face great provocation.

It applies to those Birmingham police officers who show restraint in handling the demonstrators in public but treat them very harshly in the privacy of the city jail.

It applies to the seventy-two-year-old African American woman who supports the boycott of Montgomery’s segregated bus system even though she is tired and oppressed.

It applies to those Birmingham police officers who use legal, nonviolent means to handle demonstrators in public but do so to maintain the injustice of racial discrimination.

We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the hateful words and actions of the bad people but for the appalling silence of the good people. Human progress never rolls in on wheels of inevitability; it comes through the tireless efforts of men. . . .

At first I was rather disappointed that fellow clergymen would see my nonviolent efforts as those of an extremist.

I have tried to stand between these two forces, saying that we need emulate neither the “do nothingism” of the complacent nor the hatred and despair of the black nationalist.

If one recognizes this vital urge that has engulfed the Negro community, one should readily understand why public demonstrations are taking place.

Since we so diligently urge people to obey the Supreme Court’s decision of 1954 outlawing segregation in the public schools, at first glance it may seem rather paradoxical for us consciously to break laws.

Segregation . . . substitutes an “I it” relationship for an “I thou” relationship and ends up relegating persons to the status of things. Hence segregation is not only politically, economically and sociologically unsound, it is morally wrong and sinful.

For instance, I have been arrested on a charge of parading without a permit. Now, there is nothing wrong in having an ordinance which requires a permit for a parade.

I hope you are able to see the distinction I am trying to point out. In no sense do I advocate evading or defying the law, as would the rabid segregationist. That would lead to anarchy.

He senses that allies in other nations will soon rally to the cause of civil rights.

He believes that he and his followers are stronger than those who oppose them.

He knows that the civil rights movement is better funded than those who oppose them.

He knows that the size of the movement ensures that it can elect candidates who will abolish segregation.

Now is the time to make real the promise of democracy and transform our pending national elegy into a creative psalm of brotherhood. Now is the time to lift our national policy from the quicksand of racial injustice to the solid rock of human dignity.

Their witness has been the spiritual salt that has preserved the true meaning of the gospel in these troubled times. They have carved a tunnel of hope through the dark mountain of disappointment.

For more than two centuries our forebears labored in this country without wages . . . and yet out of a bottomless vitality they continued to thrive and develop. If the inexpressible cruelties of slavery could not stop us, the opposition we now face will surely fail.

Let us all hope that the dark clouds of racial prejudice will soon pass away and the deep fog of misunderstanding will be lifted from our fear-drenched communities, and in some not too distant tomorrow the radiant stars of love and brotherhood will shine over our great nation with all their scintillating beauty.