Letter from Birmingham Jail

January 19th marks the birthday of one of America’s most celebrated Civil Rights activists. As we take this day to honor the work done by Martin Luther King Jr., it is essential that we continue to question and investigate the racial injustices that plague the institutions and culture of this country.

While incarcerated for his role in nonviolent resistance, Dr. King authored a letter from Birmingham Jail in Alabama that would become a notorious message of struggle and resistance. 63 years later, his words ring truer than ever:

“Moreover, I am cognizant of the interrelatedness of all communities and states. I cannot sit idly by in Atlanta and not be concerned about what happens in Birmingham. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. Never again can we afford to live with the narrow, provincial "outside agitator” idea. Anyone who lives inside the United States can never be considered an outsider anywhere within its bounds.” - Letter from Birmingham Jail, 1963

Dr. King was protesting the legal segregation of the country that maintained an oppressive racial hierarchy. His tireless fight forever changed the daily experiences of black Americans and led to a more equal America under the law. While segregation is no longer a legal practice, other institutional mechanisms have emerged to continue to maintain this oppressive hierarchy. 

This prison as an institution unjustly targets black and brown Americans. It tears apart communities and destroys livelihoods while traumatizing and neglecting those behind its bars. Most of us have experienced reading a letter and being struck by how utterly removed from society incarcerated people are. It is what drives many of us to keep showing up and doing what we do to provide knowledge and some ounce of connection to the outside world for these people. 

As long as there are institutions that drive people apart, there will be individuals who refuse to accept these degrees of separation. By taking the time to read letters and send books, you are refusing to accept a culture of incarceration that hides its victims and deems them worthless of human interaction. Keep doing what you can to reach across these barriers of separation and recognize Dr. King’s “network of mutuality” where “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere". 

Authored by Ella Foskett, Books to Prisoners Program Coordinator