letter from a birmingham jail king jr 16 april 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 statement in what i hope will be patient and reasonable terms i am in birmingham because injustice is here i am cognizant of the interrelatedness of all communities and states i cannot sit idly by in atlanta and not be concerned about what happens in birmingham injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere we are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality tied in a single garment of destiny wha

letter from a birmingham jail king jr 16 april 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 statement in what i hope will be patient and reasonable terms i am in birmingham because injustice is here i am cognizant of the interrelatedness of all communities and states i cannot sit idly by in atlanta and not be concerned about what happens in birmingham injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere we are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality tied in a single garment of destiny wha