Excerpt from "Letter from Birmingham Jail"

As one of the leaders of an organized campaign against racial segregation, Martin Luther King, Jr. was arrested in Birmingham on April 12, 1963. After his arrest, a group of white clergymen published a statement that called for unity but criticized King for causing trouble in the streets. This list highlights the reasons in King's response.

Here are all the word lists to support the reading of Grade 9 Unit 3's texts from SpringBoard's Common Core ELA series: Jim Crow, Jim Crow Laws, Letter from Birmingham Jail, Scout, Atticus & Boo, To Kill a Mockingbird, In Defense of To Kill a Mockingbird
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. criticism
    disapproval expressed by pointing out faults or shortcomings
    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 statement in what I hope will be patient and reasonable terms.
  2. indicate
    state or express briefly
    I think I should indicate why I am here in Birmingham, since you have been influenced by the view which argues against "outsiders coming in."
  3. cognizant
    having or showing knowledge or understanding or realization
    Moreover, I am cognizant of the interrelatedness of all communities and states.
  4. grapple
    work hard to come to terms with or deal with something
    I am sure that none of you would want to rest content with the superficial kind of social analysis that deals merely with effects and does not grapple with underlying causes.
  5. alternative
    one of a number of things from which only one can be chosen
    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
  6. unduly
    to an unnecessary degree
    Frankly, I have yet to engage in a direct action campaign that was "well timed" in the view of those who have not suffered unduly from the disease of segregation.
  7. distinguished
    standing above others in character or attainment
    We must come to see, with one of our distinguished jurists, that "justice too long delayed is justice denied."
  8. concoct
    devise or invent
    when you have to concoct an answer for a five year old son who is asking: "Daddy, why do white people treat colored people so mean?"
  9. endurance
    the power to withstand hardship or stress
    There comes a time when the cup of endurance runs over, and men are no longer willing to be plunged into the abyss of despair.
  10. advocate
    speak, plead, or argue in favor of
    I would be the first to advocate obeying just laws.
  11. sublime
    inspiring awe
    I wish you had commended the Negro sit-inners and demonstrators of Birmingham for their sublime courage, their willingness to suffer and their amazing discipline in the midst of great provocation.
  12. profundity
    intellectual depth; penetrating knowledge
    They will be old, oppressed, battered Negro women, symbolized in a seventy two year old woman in Montgomery, Alabama, who rose up with a sense of dignity and with her people decided not to ride segregated buses, and who responded with ungrammatical profundity to one who inquired about her weariness: "My feets is tired, but my soul is at rest."
  13. conscience
    motivation deriving from ethical or moral principles
    They will be the young high school and college students, the young ministers of the gospel and a host of their elders, courageously and nonviolently sitting in at lunch counters and willingly going to jail for conscience's sake.
  14. sacred
    worthy of respect or dedication
    One day the South will know that when these disinherited children of God sat down at lunch counters, they were in reality standing up for what is best in the American dream and for the most sacred values in our Judeo Christian heritage
  15. scintillating
    having brief brilliant points or flashes of light
    Let us all hope that the dark clouds of racial prejudice will soon pass away and the deep fog of misunderstanding will be lifted from our fear drenched communities, and in some not too distant tomorrow the radiant stars of love and brotherhood will shine over our great nation with all their scintillating beauty.
Created on Tue Sep 23 13:38:46 EDT 2014 (updated Tue Sep 23 18:34:28 EDT 2014)

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