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consciousness

Read this, then write yours: Letter to Change Lives

November 28, 2016 by Sara Nolan

Candles atop letters of support

A Letter to Guide Us Essay intensive didn't really know what to say after the election results came in.  We couldn't even write you a letter defending you, whoever you are, or properly post our views. We had whiplash and tried to cure it by staring straight into the maelstrom of social media. Then, we went right to the feet of the most articulate person we know: Martin Luther King Jr. (He's a close friend).  Just so happened we teach his "Letter from Birmingham Jail" every year, and on Nov 8th we were right in the middle of its protest and panacea. From WTF to Why This Fortunate? King's"Letter from Birmingham Jail" should be read in every school, jail, and waiting room.  He used ignorant criticism of his work against racism, materialism, and cancerous bigotry as a chance for extreme creativity.  His opponents (in the CHURCH, mind you) handed it to him. They asked that King-- who they labeled an "outsider" and "agitator" who should mind his own business-- to puh-lease let racism proceed at its merry awful pace in Birmingham. King could not concede.  Well let me just write this one letter first... In pristine, respectful response, in a public letter, King laid out his entire non-violent resistance platform and its historical necessity. Opportunity is wherever you decide to find it King took opposition as opportunity. The result, started on bits of toilet paper from his jail cell where he was serving time for the truly demonic offense of "parading without a permit" (sound familiar?), is one of the most important documents of our time. If and only if you'd like to know how to write well, mastering what grammar, syntax and allusion can accomplish, elevate discourse with your oppressors to hold them to their highest selves (which may not exist-- this is where the imagination is handy), logically lay out an exhaustive plan for achieving common humanity. If you don't, look elsewhere. Maybe at cat videos. What King's Letter Made  Continue Reading …

Filed Under: Destiny, Integrity, Teachers, Wisdom Tagged With: consciousness, Essay Writing, Martin Luther King Jr., opposition

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