MLK's Style in "Letter from Birminghmam Jail" Creates an Indisputable Leader

Martin Luther King Jr.'s style in "Letter from Birmingham Jail" irrefutably creates an image of a man who is both educated and willing to fearlessly speak up in the face of social injustice. His tone throughout the letter is one of confidence, knowledge, and- quite admirably- respect. He tells his "fellow clergymen," at whom the letter is directed, that he feels their concerns are worth responding to as they "are sincerely set forth."

King's voice maintains a formal yet factual stance throughout the letter. He confidently states that his reason for being in Birmingham is due to the injustices occurring there, justifying his concern by declaring, "Injustice anywhere is a threat to injustice everywhere." Such a strong generalization as this again creates an image of a man who understands, who lives exactly the cause he is fighting for- in this case, of course, racial equality in American society. King continues to make such significant statements as this throughout the letter. He describes, with brutal honesty, the weight of discrimination Black people in the US face- simply because of their race. King describes "vicious mobs [who] lynch your mothers and fathers at will" and seeing your child "begin to distort her little personality by unconsciously developing a bitterness towards white people."

King uses other stylistic elements- religious allusion, for example- to emphasize his agenda for social change. He mentions the apostle Paul, who traveled and "carried the gospel of Jesus Christ" with him. King then likens himself to Paul, stating that he is carrying "the gospel of freedom beyond my particular hometown." While it is a bold comparison, many people would argue it's a valid one.

One stylistic similarity between "Letter from Birmingham Jail" and Billie Holiday's "Strange Fruit" are both King's and Holiday's use of brutally raw and descriptive language to emphasize discrimination faced by Black Americans. While they are very different mediums, the two pieces communicate similarly how unacceptable such discrimination is.

-Natalia de Gravelles

Stasis Theory- The Argument of "Letter from Birmingham Jail"

While in jail for his involvement in protests against segregationist policies in Birmingham Alabama, Dr. Martin Luther King defends his method of peaceful resistance to unjust laws.  King states that political leaders refuse to address egregious acts such as police brutality and bombings of black homes and churches, despite negotiation.  There so, King believes blacks must seek “direct action” in order to obtain justice.

           If implemented, nonviolent direct action creates enough tension in a community such that those who refuse to negotiate must address protestors concerns.  King states that whites’ resistance to address blacks’ concerns stems from the fact that “freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.”

            King validates the morality of his method of peaceful resistance when he explains that justice is a “God –given and constitutional right.”  The fact that blacks were still waiting for fair treatment violates these rights. Segregationist laws that discriminated against hiring blacks are unjust laws.  Unjust laws are immoral.  King’s method of direct action counters these unjust laws humanely and without violence.  Despite the risk of arrest for his actions, King advocates nonviolent protest because “oppressed people cannot remain oppressed forever.”  He believes violence will overturn the movement if blacks do not express their emotions and concerns associated with injustice in nonviolent ways.

             Ultimately, King believes that blacks need not openly express hatred or remain complacent with segregationist polices.  Instead, blacks should continue to disobey demeaning unjust laws.  King affirms that nonviolent protest should fuel the Civil Rights Movement.  Similarly to Billie Holiday’s “Strange Fruit,” King’s work brings awareness to injustice in the South.  Both works communicate their messages to those who do not necessarily face the concerns addressed in their writings.  For example, King brings awareness to the practice of employment discrimination in Birmingham through peaceful protests.  Billie Holiday sings of lynching in the “pastoral scene of the gallant South.”

~Tylar

Stasis Theory- The Argument of "Strange Fruit"

Billie Holiday’s “Strange Fruit” conveys the lynching of blacks in the South.  We can infer historically that this horrible practice occurred when whites tried to intimidate blacks and keep them in their place.  King explains why this happens in “Letter from Birmingham Jail” when he states that people in power don’t easily give up power.  The segregated South maintained status quo, despite racism and violence. 

            Holiday demonizes lynching by using analogies while expanding on them through her use of graphic imagery.   Holiday provides examples of “bulgin’ eyes,” “twisted mouths,” and “the sudden smell of burnin’ flesh.”  To burn someone is to reduce them to something that’s not human.  Dehumanizing anyone is morally wrong.  

Holiday uses her music to raise consciousness just as images of police brutality on TV raised consciousness of the unjust treatment of blacks.  Both examples put political pressure on the federal government to address racial violence in the South.

-Tylar

The Timing of the Civil Rights Movement: How King Appealed to Kairos

While King's argument is comprised of ethos, pathos, and logos, his most effective method of presenting his argument, besides pathos, is kairos. One example of this is when he declares, "Frankly, I have never yet engaged in a direct-action movement that was "well timed" according to the timetable 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 a piercing familiarity. This "wait" has almost always meant "never." It has been a tranquilizing thalidomide, relieving the emotional stress for a moment, only to give birth to an ill-formed infant of frustration. We must come to see with the distinguished jurist of yesterday that "justice too long delayed is justice denied." We have waited for more than three hundred and forty years for our God-given and constitutional rights." 

Although much of his argument is laced with frustration of having to wait for centuries to get equal rights, I believe the root is stemming from the fact that the timing for the movement has been long overdue rather than "well timed" as he put it. Certain words such as "centuries" and "for years" add more effect to the fact that the long wait to obtain equal rights was absolutely unacceptable. King also puts special emphasis on the word "wait" as it was one of the many things African Americans can relate to when combatting racism. Even though many African Americans went through different specific things depending on which generation they were born into, "waiting" is probably one of the words they hated hearing when demanding equal rights. His comparison of the waiting acting as a sort of temporary cure like the tranquilizing thalidomide shows that their submission into waiting didn't benefit them at all so it was best to take matters into their own hands. Therefore, he implies that the fight for equal rights would have stopped long ago had they took more of a direct approach.

When compared to kairos of Strange Fruit, King believes that the timing of the movement has been long overdue. Whereas the song sought to expose specifically lynching as an immoral act at the time therefore implying something must be done at the time, King's letter declares that the wait to fight for equal rights was too long. However, I find it interesting that "Strange Fruit" addresses specifically lynching as an immoral act rather than everything that happened to African Americans in the 1930s which is what King does in his letter. 

My Keys

How the Letter from Birmingham Jail has Emotional Appeal

In August 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., after getting arrested for protesting in Birmingham, Alabama, wrote "Letter from Birmingham Jail" explaining the reason he and other activists are fighting for equal rights for African Americans. He uses many ways of proving his argument such as ethos, logos, and kairos but one of his most effective ways is using pathos. 

King begins his argument by claiming, "Moreover, I am cognizant of the interrelatedness of all communities and states". King appeals to emotion here because not only is he fighting for equal rights for African Americans, but he also establishes the fact that he cares about all of humanity. This implies he ultimately desires unity within the human race by caring about each other no matter the race. He evokes a sense of togetherness through his opening statement.

Since the general audience has a high regard for children, any argument involving children would really appeal to their sympathy and need to protect children. King claims, "...when you suddenly find your tongue twisted and your speech stammering as you seek to explain to your six-year-old daughter why she cannot go to the public amusement park that has just been advertised on television, and see tears welling up in her little eyes when she is told that Funtown is closed to colored children, and see the depressing clouds of inferiority begin to form in her little mental sky, and see her begin to distort her little personality by unconsciously developing a bitterness toward white people; when you have to concoct an answer for a five-year-old son asking in agonizing pathos, "Daddy, why do white people treat colored people so mean?..". Most people believe children to be innocent therefore seeing that racism distorts their young minds just as it does to adults is frankly disturbing. Therefore, they would feel more compelled to do something about the racism that erupted in the country after hearing how the children are also put in danger in a way.

Although this occurred about three decades after the release of "Strange Fruit", they both appeal to pathos in different ways. "Strange Fruit" evokes sadness that discusses a major problem that happened to many African Americans in the 1930s. King's letter, although it also expresses concerns for the plights of African Americans and explains the reason why they are protesting, King also establishes that he ultimately cares about all people of different races which evokes a sense of unity. Therefore, it somewhat balances the sadness of his argument about how racism negatively affects children. 

My Keys

The Kairos of Strange Fruit: How It Was Controversial in the 1930s

In 1931 in New York City, Billie Holiday first sings "Strange Fruit" in a popular cabaret club called Café Society.
                                               
The crowd, expecting Holiday's song to be about love or dancing in the moonlight, instead were stunned for awhile after Holiday sings the last line "Here is a strange and bitter crop". In her autobiography, Holiday commented, "There wasn't even a patter of applause when I finished. Then a lone person began clapping nervously. Then suddenly everyone was clapping." 

Obviously, the crowd's initial reaction was not surprising given that lynching was considered a sport during the 1930s. Although picnic is based off of the French word, pique-nique, blacks were still persecuted in a picnic-like setting which made many people today associate lynching with the word picnic. Still, the timing of the song was in a period where lynching was considered moderately acceptable. However, the timing was perfect because famous incidents such as the Emmet Till case or the Scottsboro Boys case occurred around the same time which ultimately led to the Civil Rights movement.

•                             

The fact that the crowd began clapping shows that some people had felt lynching was wrong but were too afraid to speak up about it. I believe that with them hearing that song, they finally realized they needed to do something about it. As I've stated before, the timing for the song to be created and song couldn't have been better.

My Keys

Billie Holiday's Musical Style in "Strange Fruit"

I am not someone who claims to know an extensive amount about music. I cannot analyze chords like an expert, I cannot name notes and keys off the top of my head. That being said, upon listening to Billie Holiday's "Strange Fruit," I could not help but to be captivated by the strength and emotion of her voice, and the way the sounds of the instruments seem to speak to you. Throughout the song's intro, the prolonged, somber piano notes set the stage for Holiday's unconventional lyrics as she describes the lynching of Black Americans in the South. Holiday's vocal style, too, is so impactful in painting a story throughout the song. She draws out and emphasizes lyrics such as "southern breeze" and, when describing the dead, "bulging eyes and the twisted mouth." This vocal variation causes you to become more attentive to the stressed lyrics. You ponder a bit more the truly disgusting crimes that are racism and lynching as Holiday laments upon the end result for the victims.

 Holiday's language also speaks volumes. The phrase, "pastoral scene of the gallant south" uses sarcasm to criticize Southerners, supposedly so morally upright and fearlessly valiant, murder innocent people because of their race. The comparison of "black bodies" to "strange fruit" is as well extremely unconventional, yet it is this unconventionality that again contributes to Holiday's style.

Certain elements of "Strange Fruit" are reminiscent of MLK's "Letter from Birmingham Jail." While they speak through different mediums, both Holiday and King use their voice and style to criticize the racist, bigoted actions against Black Americans. They develop an image of people fighting against numerous odds.

-Natalia de Gravelles