January Letter Prompt — Take Us to Your Favourite Place
Mini Mailer’s monthly prompt
As I was roaming through the library aisles, a particular book caught my eye, 100 letters that changed the world by Colin Salter.
I flipped through the pages to find letters of theories recorded, discoveries made, warnings sent, and individuals writing against injustices. One of my favourites is Martin Luther King Jr.’s letter in the April of 1963.
At that time, peaceful civil rights demonstrators faced forceful fire hoses and biting police dogs. Martin Luther King Jr. had led a march of black protesters without a permit in Birmingham, Alabama, which resulted in the Birmingham police sending him and hundreds of his supporters to jail.
Shortly after, the clergymen of Birmingham released a letter called, A Call for Unity. The clergymen were upset at the demonstrations that had taken place and urged African Americans not to take part in such uncivil acts.
When Martin Luther King Jr. got a hold of the letter, A Call for Unity, his frustration had led him to write a letter of his own. He had smuggled toilet paper into his jail cell and crafted a response called Letter from Birmingham jail. In this letter, he highlighted to the clergymen the many injustices the African American community encountered in…
