Welcome to Karen Hunter's awesome.

I am Karen Hunter.

And today is January 15th.

January 15th, I am marking this day

because this is the actual birthday of Martin the King, Jr. born January 15th, I am marking this day because this is the actual birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr.

Born January 15th, 1929 in Atlanta, Georgia, born Michael King, Jr. His dad, who's on his own spiritual

journey, fell in love with the writings and teachings of Martin Luther and changed his name,

which meant he had to

change the name of his baby boy as well. So Martin Luther King Jr.'s name was changed when his dad

changed his name to Martin Luther King, Sr. But we celebrate him today, or at least I celebrate him

today on his actual birthday, because over the next few days,

you're going to be seeing people post quotes, and, you know, it's going to be a lot of playing of

I have a dream and a lot of talk of nonviolence, especially on the precipice of our inauguration

of the next president, which also happens to fall on Martin Luther King's actual holiday.

But I wanted to take time today on this podcast

to actually sit with the man.

I think to really know Martin Luther King

is to understand his works and how his brain worked.

And I want to take us first to a letter from a

Birmingham jail. It was written April 16, 1963, and it is a letter that he directs to clergymen

who were telling him on his trip to Birmingham in protest of the bombings and horrors and

terrorism and lynchings that were going on to, maybe you're doing too much.

...