Analysis Of Martin Luther King Jr.'s Letter From Birmingham Jail

“Sacrifice is an act of giving up something valued for the sake of something else regarded as more important or worthy.” The issue of sacrifice has been shown throughout many people in history that wanted change. For example, Martin Luther King Jr. and John F. Kennedy were some of those people. Likewise, they were very open about change in society, and they expressed that through their speeches and actions. In Martin Luther King Jr.’s famous “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” it showed his sacrifices that derived from his passion to abolish segregation and racism. John F. Kennedy’s inaugural speech in 1961 is also well known and shows what he would do in order for equality in the United States of America. The struggle of sacrifice and freedom also

was in the midst of the actual protesting because he had a personal standpoint on the issue while John F. Kennedy lead from a distance and addressed the public.

Martin Luther King Jr. was a civil rights activist who was constantly engaging in peaceful protests to eliminate segregation. He was a minister who believed that there was four basic steps to a nonviolent campaign which are: “collection of the facts to determine whether injustices are alive, negotiation, self-purification, and direct action,” (King). Therefore, he constantly used these steps to perform sit-ins and marches in order to face the unjust racism he and other black people in America were facing at the time. Similarly, he had to use these tactics because the whites in society refused to listen to King when he wanted to negotiate with them (King). Dr. King made many sacrifices throughout his

Kennedy was the 35th president of the United States of America. His inaugural address showed his stance on freedom, and he said some controversial statements that fazed many during that era. He was very committed to the idea of freedom for everyone no matter what race, religion, status, etc they were. Kennedy made an extreme sacrifice when he was unfortunately assassinated because many learned about him and his beliefs. His inaugural address states, “Ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man.” (Kennedy). Similarly, he was earnestly passionate about freedom for all and that any sacrifice no matter how extreme, would be necessary to achieve freedom. Consequently, he was adamant about preserving liberty, and he was faced with issues at a public level. Kennedy expressed his feelings about helping less fortunate countries even though some people opposed his beliefs. He said, “If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich,” (Kennedy). Moreover, he stressed that Americans should be grateful that they lived in the U.S. Also, he was determined to preserve America’s freedom that was earned from hardships of the