[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 4]
[House]
[Page 5248]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                              {time}  1030
 CELEBRATING THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING'S ``LETTER 
                        FROM A BIRMINGHAM JAIL''

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
Alabama (Ms. Sewell) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. SEWELL of Alabama. Mr. Speaker, today I rise to join so many 
Americans across this Nation and this world in celebrating the 50th 
anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King's ``Letter from a Birmingham 
Jail.''
  After being arrested on April 12, 1963, Dr. King came across an 
article in The Birmingham News entitled ``White Clergymen Urge Local 
Negroes to Withdraw From Demonstrations.''
  The eight White clergymen who authored that article were very 
critical of Dr. King and the others who demonstrated. They called the 
demonstrations ``untimely and unwise.''
  These criticisms inspired Dr. King to pen a letter that was published 
upon his release on April 16, 1963. The letter became one of the most 
preeminent documents of the civil rights era. So today I join the 
voices around the world as I read in part from this beautifully 
written, masterful document, ``Letter from a Birmingham Jail'' by Dr. 
Martin Luther King, Jr.:

                                                   16 April, 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 
     criticisms 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 else . . . But since I feel that you 
     are men of genuine goodwill, and that your criticisms are 
     sincere and heartfelt, I want to try to answer your statement 
     in what I hope will be a patient and reasonable term.
       I think I should indicate why I am here in Birmingham, 
     since you have been influenced by the view that I am somehow 
     an outsider coming in. I am in Birmingham because injustice 
     is here.
       Moreover, I am cognizant of the interdependency of all 
     communities and states. I cannot sit idly by in Atlanta and 
     not be concerned about what's happening 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 in the United States of America can never be 
     considered an outsider anywhere within its bounds.
       We know through painful experience that freedom is never 
     voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by 
     the oppressed. Frankly, I have yet to engage in a direct-
     action campaign that was not ``well timed'' in the view of 
     those who have not suffered unduly from the disease of 
     segregation. For years now, I have heard the word ``Wait!'' 
     It rings in the ear of every Negro with piercing familiarity. 
     This ``Wait'' has almost always meant ``Never.'' We must come 
     to see with one another what one jurist said, that ``justice 
     too long delayed is justice denied.''
       Oppressed people cannot remain oppressed forever. The 
     yearning for freedom eventually manifests itself, and that is 
     what has happened to the American Negro.
       The Negro has had many pent up frustrations and resentments 
     and must release them. So let him march; let him make a 
     prayerful pilgrimage to the city hall; let him go on freedom 
     rides and try to understand why he must do so; let him 
     release his frustration in a nonviolent way . . .
       But though I was initially disappointed at being criticized 
     as an extremist by you, as I continued to think about the 
     matter I gradually gained a measure of satisfaction from the 
     label. Was not Jesus an extremist for love?
       Was not Amos an extremist for justice? ``Let justice roll 
     down like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing 
     stream.''
       Was not Paul an extremist for the Christian gospel? ``I 
     bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus.''
       So the question is not whether we will be extremists, but 
     what kind of extremists we will be. Will we be extremists for 
     hate or for love? Will we be extremists for the preservation 
     of injustice or for the extension of justice?
       Perhaps the South, the Nation, and the world are in dire 
     need of creative extremists.
       I hope this letter finds you in strong faith. Let us all 
     hope that the dark cloud of racial prejudice will soon pass 
     away and the deep fog of misunderstanding will lift from our 
     fear-drenched communities, and in some time not so distant, 
     that the radiant stars of love and brotherhood will shine 
     over our great Nation in all of their succulent beauty.
       Yours for the cause of peace and brotherhood.
       Martin Luther King, Jr.

  So Mr. Speaker, on this 50th anniversary of this beautifully written 
letter, I hope my colleagues will join me in reflecting on its powerful 
words. ``Letter from a Birmingham Jail'' stands as a reminder of how 
far we've come in our Nation and living up to the ideals of justice and 
equality for all.

                          ____________________