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.

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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

Strange Fruit Lyrical (and Non-Lyrical) Logos

Strange Fruit Lyrical (and Non-Lyrical) Logos

Billie Holiday’s soulful ballad “Strange Fruit” invokes a chilling sense of sorrow.  The bluesy melody, the trumpet’s acoustic solos, and the adagio tempo help to better convey the serious undertones of Holiday’s piece.  “Strange Fruit’s” musicality helps listeners connect to its grim subject matter.

Holiday starts her piece lyrically by invoking imagery of black fruit that hangs from trees that bear “blood on the leaves and blood at the root.” These lyrics call to mind the Southern lynching of blacks.  Holiday uses the word “strange” to signal to listeners that there is something wrong and possibly unnatural with the subject matter of her piece.  She explains that the fruit, which represents southern blacks, is vulnerable to crows, rain, and wind.  The fruit’s vulnerability, she explains, produces a “strange and bitter crop.”  The crop is representative of the American South as a whole.  Through her use of analogy, Holiday suggests that Southern blacks’ vulnerability to white oppression creates bitter tension between the two groups.  Her analogy expresses that black lynching hurts not only black Americans, but also the South at a whole.

 Similarly, Dr. King’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail” uses analogy to convey why the state of lynching had gone too far and how stronger laws were needed to protect blacks.  Both works use observations of injustice to define why the state of the South was unstable at the time.

~Tylar

The Pathos of Billie Holiday's Strange Fruit

                                                         

Billie Holiday, nicknamed Lady Day, was a famous African American jazz singer from the 1930s. She was not only known for her vocal style but also for some her songs. One of her most famous is "Strange Fruit".

The song was written by Abel Meeropol, a Jewish man from the Bronx. Since the racial relations were quite hostile in the 1930s due to the incidents of lynching, writing a song condemning lynching was definitely one of the riskiest things to do in the U.S. at that time. He wrote the song in the late 1930s because he was so disturbed by the racism especially after seeing a photo of a lynching.

The lyrics in general compared the lynched bodies to fruit when Holiday sings "Blood on the leaves and blood at the root/ Black bodies swinging' in the Southern breeze". The Southern breeze detail implies that most of these murders occurred in the Deep South which is an area that is known for its hostility towards African Americans. The lyrics add imagery to it in order to imply that the song is about lynching without actually saying it thus making "strange fruit" an euphemism for hanged bodies. It allows the listener to make his or her own conclusions. Holiday's particular voice is very soulful and it evokes sadness and makes the audience believe that lynching is a serious issue.

When I first heard this song in my freshman year of high school, I knew off the bat that it was about lynching. I had already known that lynching was a serious issue in the 1930s but the sadness in Billie Holiday's voice made me feel more implored to do something about it even though these murders occurred more than seven decades ago. Also, the style of the music also affected me because the slow beat and the blues feel to it made me think that this song was going to be dramatic but not necessarily happy or upbeat.

Although this song was produced in the 1930s, it also relates to the Letter from Birmingham Jail written by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. They are both protesting the unfair treatment of African Americans and they both also showcase ethos, kairos, pathos, and logos. Holiday and King also both used their professions to protest about the treatment of African Americans. Holiday used her talents as a singer to sing about the horrors of lynching and King used his leadership as an activist to convince the entire nation and world that racism was wrong. However, Strange Fruit uses more pathos due to the emotion heard in Holiday's voice while Dr. King's letter is a more of a logos based argument.

- My Keys

King's "Letter From Birmingham Jail" is full of Ethos- and much, much more

Martin Luther King Jr. penned his "Letter from Birmingham Jail" while in jail for participation in a nonviolent anti-segregation demonstration. The letter was King's response to a statement by 8 Southern, white religious leaders. In the letter, which is quite verbose, King does not hesitate at all to establish his ethos as both a religious and Civil rights leader. He mentions having "the honor of serving as president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference," an organization with affiliates including "the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights." Thus, while reading the article you are already aware of King's credentials. In a sense, knowing his leadership history also further emphasizes King's imprisonment as being racially motivated. Why else would an African American man be sitting in jail for participating in a peaceful protest motivated by a desire for social and racial equality? Are freedom of speech and assembly not our Constitutional rights? Had a white man taken King's place, would his actions have landed him in jail?

King continues to maintain this credibility throughout the letter. For example, when responding to the religious leaders' claims of the protest being "extreme," King mentions his disappointment at such a reaction from "fellow clergymen." King's inclusion of himself in this group of religious leaders again establishes ethos.

In a way, I found it almost difficult to distinguish exactly what was exclusively ethos in King's letter. Every sentence seems to be electrified with both knowledge and emotion, with credibility and experience, much like Billie Holiday's song, "Strange Fruit," which describes the horrors of lynching faced by Black Americans. However, perhaps it is just this- his descriptions of the racial injustices faced by Black Americans day to day, "plagued with inner fear and outer resentments," being recounted obviously from experience- that makes his "Letter" so powerful. King speaks as a leader, as a teacher, but he speaks as a human being too, and at that a human being who simply longs for his well-deserved rights.

-Natalia de Gravelles

Billie Holiday's "Strange Fruit-" A Grave Wealth of Ethos

Upon analyzing the lyrics of Billie Holiday's "Strange Fruit," it seems the scene being described- the lynched, lifeless bodies of Black Americans hanging from trees as some type of "strange fruit-" connotes actions that are undoubtedly anything but ethical. Yet, the song's ethos is immense, not in spite of Holiday's disturbing imagery, but rather as a result of it. Holiday, an African American herself, utilizes vivid imagery such as "black bodies swinging in the Southern breeze." These words paint an all-too clearly a picture of the Civil Rights Movement's sometimes fatal end results for it's victims. The language remains strong throughout the song, thus underlining Holiday's understanding of, and possibly personal experiences with, the injustices suffered by Black Americans both prior to and during the Civil Rights era. She does not shy away from the gruesome reality of lynching, and her lyrics are honest, even if through metaphor.

Her use of certain details too adds to the song's effectiveness. The trees, for example, she specifies as "poplar," and the breeze "Southern." These details, based off the fact that the majority of racial discrimination occurred in the southern US, thus offer a geographic specificity, a detail that again further heightens Holiday's ethos.

"Strange Fruit" is proof that, when expatiating upon issues of social injustice, a speaker's ethos can be established through a multitude of outlets. This song demonstrates that one does not have to list credentials to necessarily show credibility. This does not mean, of course, that listing credentials is a weak way to establish ethos. Martin Luther King, Jr., for example, does this in his "Letter from Birmingham Jail," and establishes outstanding credibility as a Civil Rights leader. With "Strange Fruit," you simply have to dig a bit deeper.

-Natalia de Gravelles

The Logos behind “Letter from Birmingham Jail”

      Dr. Martin Luther King’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail” appeals to logos in the sense that it enumerates exactly why “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”  The text does this by explaining harmful trends that result from unjust laws.  Even though unjust laws violate the rights of many, there are those who still find need for them.  King is disillusioned with white moderates who refuse to stand against prejudice and passively accept unjust laws.  King states that white moderates support these laws in order to maintain status quo.  Even though the laws establish a sense of short-lived racial peace, King believes injustice is implemented through them.  The laws degrade the human person.  King believes that any unjust laws have the power to inhibit society from seeking equality and long-term peace.

      Through the use of historical parallels, King explains that civil disobedience is necessary to implement when “a higher moral law [is] involved” that supersedes unjust laws.  King reasons that some laws inhibit honorable behavior and that what is legal is not always moral.  As King suggests, Hitler’s behavior in Germany was completely legal, even though comforting and providing aid to Jews was illegal.

      From King’s speech, we can draw parallels between Billie Holiday’s “Strange Fruit” in the sense that the song suggests there is something wrong with the way southern blacks were treated under laws that did not protect them.  “Strange Fruit,” like “Letter from Birmingham Jail” provides examples that support the fact that there is a need for just laws that defend life and human dignity.   For the reason that just laws are necessary to preserve human dignity, King suggests that he would rather be an extremist who fights for justice, rather than one who harbors “lukewarm acceptance” in the face of evil.

-Tylar