Guidance for Family Law Reform, MLK letter from jail!

jmurtari@thebook.com

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Good People & People of Faith,

It's a common cliche we've all heard, "don't reinvent the wheel!"  But
a much harder one to avoid.  Below is a letter Martin Luther King
wrote from jail to explain his actions.  I was amazed at how well his
description of the injustice of segregation can be applied to the way
our Family Law system treats families!

His letter is so simple & practical in guidance. He describe four
steps in the process, we have completed the first two, but need to
work on the last two!

Your FEEDBACK is welcome.
John Murtari (jmurtari@AKidsRight.Org)

The two links below are to the entire text, with an excerpt that
follows.

http://abacus.bates.edu/admin/offices/dos/mlk/letter.html
http://www.thekingcenter.org/archive/document/mlks-letter-birmingham-jail-pulpit-digest

       LETTER FROM A BIRMINGHAM JAIL by Dr. Martin Luther King (in
       response to written criticism of his methods from other religious
       leaders in the community)  April 16, 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 criticism 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 other than such correspondence in
the course of the day, and I would have no time for constructive
work. But since I feel that you are men of genuine good will and that
your criticisms are sincerely set forth, I want to try to answer your
statements in what I hope will be patient and reasonable terms...

You deplore the demonstrations taking place in Birmingham. But your
statement, I am sorry to say, fails to express a similar concern for
the conditions that brought about the demonstrations... It is
unfortunate that demonstrations are taking place in Birmingham, but it
is even more unfortunate that the city's white power structure left
the Negro community with no alternative.

IN ANY NONVIOLENT CAMPAIGN THERE ARE FOUR BASIC STEPS: COLLECTION OF
THE FACTS TO DETERMINE WHETHER INJUSTICES EXIST; NEGOTIATION;
SELF-PURIFICATION; AND DIRECT ACTION. We have gone through all of
these steps in Birmingham. There can be no gainsaying the fact that
racial injustice engulfs this community. Birmingham is probably the
most thoroughly segregated city in the United States. Its ugly record
of brutality is widely known. Negroes have experienced grossly unjust
treatment in the courts. There have been more unsolved bombings of
Negro homes and churches in Birmingham than in any other city in the
nation. These are the hard, brutal facts of the case. On the basis of
these conditions, Negro leaders sought to negotiate with the city
fathers. But the latter consistently refused to engage in good-faith
negotiation.

Then, last September, came the opportunity to talk with leaders of
Birmingham's economic community. In the course of the negotiations,
certain promises were made by the merchants --- for example, to remove
the stores humiliating racial signs. On the basis of these promises,
the Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth and the leaders of the Alabama
Christian Movement for Human Rights agreed to a moratorium on all
demonstrations. As the weeks and months went by, we realized that we
were the victims of a broken promise. A few signs, briefly removed,
returned; the others remained.

As in so many past experiences, our hopes had been blasted, and the
shadow of deep disappointment settled upon us. we had no alternative
except to prepare for direct action, whereby WE WOULD PRESENT OUR VERY
BODIES AS A MEANS OF LAYING OUR CASE BEFORE THE CONSCIENCE OF THE
LOCAL AND THE NATIONAL COMMUNITY. MINDFUL OF THE DIFFICULTIES
INVOLVED, WE DECIDED TO UNDERTAKE A PROCESS OF SELF-PURIFICATION. WE
BEGAN A SERIES OF WORKSHOPS ON NONVIOLENCE, AND WE REPEATEDLY ASKED
OURSELVES : "ARE YOU ABLE TO ACCEPT BLOWS WITHOUT RETALIATING?" "ARE
YOU ABLE TO ENDURE THE ORDEAL OF JAIL?" We decided to schedule our
direct-action program for the Easter season, realizing that except for
Christmas, this is the main shopping period of the year. Knowing that
a strong economic withdrawal program would be the by-product of direct
action, we felt that this would be the best time to bring pressure to
bear on the merchants for the needed change.

Then it occurred to us that Birmingham's mayoralty election was coming
up in March, and we speedily decided to postpone action until after
election day. When we discovered that the Commissioner of Public
Safety, Eugene "Bull" Connor, had piled up enough votes to be in the
run-off we decided again to postpone action until the day after the
run-off so that the demonstrations could not be used to cloud the
issues. Like many others, we waited to see Mr. Connor defeated, and to
this end we endured postponement after postponement. Having aided in
this community need, we felt that our direct-action program could be
delayed no longer.

YOU MAY WELL ASK: "WHY DIRECT ACTION? WHY SIT-INS, MARCHES AND SO
FORTH? ISN'T NEGOTIATION A BETTER PATH?" You are quite right in
calling, for negotiation. Indeed, this is the very purpose of direct
action. Nonviolent direct action seeks to create such a crisis and
foster such a tension that a community which has constantly refused to
negotiate is forced to confront the issue. It seeks to so dramatize
the issue that it can no longer be ignored. My citing the creation of
tension as part of the work of the nonviolent-resister may sound
rather shocking. But I must confess that I am not afraid of the word
"tension." I have earnestly opposed violent tension, but there is a
type of constructive, nonviolent tension which is necessary for
growth. Just as Socrates felt that it was necessary to create a
tension in the mind so that individuals could rise from the bondage of
myths and half-truths to the unfettered realm of creative analysis and
objective appraisal, we must we see the need for nonviolent gadflies
to create the kind of tension in society that will help men rise from
the dark depths of prejudice and racism to the majestic heights of
understanding and brotherhood.

THE PURPOSE OF OUR DIRECT-ACTION PROGRAM is to create a situation so
crisis-packed that it will inevitably open the door to negotiation. I
therefore concur with you in your call for negotiation. Too long has
our beloved Southland been bogged down in a tragic effort to live in
monologue rather than dialogue......

(For the remainder)
http://abacus.bates.edu/admin/offices/dos/mlk/letter.html
http://www.thekingcenter.org/archive/document/mlks-letter-birmingham-jail-pulpit-digest

-- 
                                                John
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