Earlier this month, C-SPAN unveiled its newest Presidential all-time rankings. While many focused on Obama's first appearance on the list and his lofty No. 12 ranking, this website is much more interested by the man who is President at the time of King's famous letter, John F. Kennedy.
Kennedy has always been a captivating and complicated figure in American history. The patriarch of "Camelot" looked so perfect and professional on the outside but dealt with many difficulties and demons on the inside. Kennedy fell slightly since the 91 historians last did these rankings in 2009, falling from 6th to 8th. Like any good teacher, these historians also graded on a rubric featuring several key categories of greatness (at least according to them). One that was particularly noteworthy for this seminar was "equal rights/justice for all". This is a category Kennedy scored high in and civil rights certainly was a defining theme of his presidency. However, in order to understand King and his impact in America we must also understand the role Kennedy played (or wanted to play) in this critical moment of history.
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As much as I love taking on amazing written works in American history and putting my perspective and analysis on it, it's never going to be enough.
I am only one man with my own limited experiences. I may know a fair amount about US history but you have your own expertise. I have always believed that my goal as an educator is to give others the power and courage to find their own voice. Adding your voice to this project will only make it better. Whether you are 16 or 61...if you are reading this I want to know if you would be willing to be a guest contributor for this project in 2017. All you have to do is read the Letter from Birmingham Jail which I linked here. Then the rest is up to you. Do you have an experience this makes you think of? Does this remind you of something else happening here or in the world? Are you intrigued by the word choice, the literary devices or something else about it? How do you annotate this great work? What do you have to add to the discourse? I am not asking you to pump out a doctoral thesis by next week, I just want you to commit to helping me out between now and August. August people! If you think you are not good enough or not wanted, trust me you are. Let's make this the best seminar yet! King's Letter from Birmingham Jail may be an incredible philosophical and moral tract, but it would never happen if it were not for the police officers that forced him into this cell that he turned into a sanctuary.
Now King had been arrested plenty of times before April 12, 1963 and so has his colleagues Fred Shuttlesworth and Ralph Abernathy. Yet this was the moment that brought together the variables necessary for this document in the first place. First, you need to understand that the Civil Rights Movement had been fading from the American conscience by April 1963. An earlier protest in Albany, Georgia had not resulted in the public spectacle that King and SCLC (Southern Christian Leadership Coalition) had hoped for, Police Sheriff Laurie Pritchett had wisely avoided the overt violence and hostility that had created so much public outrage in earlier events like the Freedom Rides or outside Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. The movement needed a jolt of energy, an opportunity to reinvigorate the charge for change. Their answer was to look at Birmingham, Alabama. Why? Well to understand that, let us take a moment to really delve into the city whose actions in 1963 will ultimately shape American history. |
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