Why We Can't Wait

By Martin Luther King Jr.

Categories: History, Politics & Social Sciences

Why We Can't Wait (1964) is Martin Luther King Jr.'s account of the 1963 civil rights campaign in Birmingham, Alabama, one of the most segregated cities in the United States, and the protests that followed across the country. King explains the strategy of nonviolent direct action and why Black Americans refused to accept further delay. The book includes his "Letter from Birmingham Jail", written in April 1963 in reply to white clergymen who had called the demonstrations unwise and untimely.

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• Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: “Try starting with "Why We Can't Wait" - it is short, but very powerful... (I find that the letter is more impactful as written within the context of the book).”