I happen to think that you can you can bookend Martin's life in this country

by the letter from the Birmingham tale is I Have a Dream speech and March on Washington and

just April 4th, 1967 speech, time to break the

silence, speaking about Vietnam. Now I know he's given another passion another passion speeches but the letter from the

Birmingham jail the letter from the Birmingham jail is really the 20th

centuries Magna Carter for freedom and liberty and justice.

I think it will endure forever as part of the American experience.

I think it will.

Hi, I'm Jonathan Cape Heart and welcome to Voices of the Movement,

a series from K-Pup sharing stories and reflections of some of the Movement, a series from Cape Up, sharing stories and reflections of some of the

leaders of the Civil Rights Movement, and their lessons on where we go from here.

Dated April 16, 1963, letter from Birmingham jail was written by the Reverend Martin Luther King

during the eight days he spent in jail for marching in a banned protest. A nine-page

lament by the leader of the Civil Rights Movement to his white Christian counterparts

that explained to them and the nation why African Americans could no longer wait for equality and justice.

In some ways, letter from Birmingham jail is a relic from another America

when segregation ruled.

Yet the document's lasting power is revealed in just how relevant King's words are in today's America,

more than 50 years later.

And this episode is the unlikely story of how it came to be, Because the man who helped it come into existence

will be the first one to tell you that he couldn't have cared less

what was being written.

...