Why We Can't Wait

Front Cover
Penguin, Jan 1, 2000 - Biography & Autobiography - 166 pages
12 Reviews
Letter from Birmingham Jail, April 16, 1963

“Perhaps it is easy for those who have never felt the stinging darts of segregation to say, 'Wait.' But when you have seen vicious mobs lynch your mothers and fathers at will and drown your sisters and brothers at whim…when you see the vast majority of twenty million Negro brothers smothering in an airtight cage of poverty in the midst of an affluent society; when you suddenly find your tongue twisted and your speech stammering as you seek to explain to your six-year-old daughter why she can't go to the public amusement park that has just been advertised on television, and see tears welling up in her eyes when she is told that Funtown is closed to colored children, and see ominous clouds of inferiority beginning to form in her little mental sky…when you take a cross-country drive and find it necessary to sleep night after night in the uncomfortable corners of your automobile because no motel will accept you…when…your wife and mother are never given the respected title 'Mrs.'…when you are forever fighting a degenerating sense of 'nobodiness'—then you will understand why we find it difficult to wait. There comes a time when the cup of endurance runs over, and men are no longer willing to be plunged into the abyss of despair.”

Why We Can't Wait

Martin Luther King's Classic Exploration of the events and forces behind the Civil Rights Movement
  

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THIS BOOK GET GIVE PHSINATING INFORMATION. AND I AM VERY KEEN ON BUUYING
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Review: Why We Can't Wait

User Review  - Casey Phillips - Goodreads

Distinguished, inspiring, eloquent. Apart from the Dream speech, I have not read much of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s work. He is intelligent and compassionate. He speaks without hate, without bitterness ... Read full review

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Selected pages

Contents

Common terms and phrases

African Americans Alabama Albany Albert Boutwell American army asked Birmingham bomb Boutwell boycott Bull Connor Burke Marshall campaign century Christian church citizens civil civil-rights movement color courage court crusade demonstrations desegregation direct-action downtown economic Emancipation Proclamation Eugene Bull extremist face fact felt fight force Fred Shuttlesworth freedom Georgia go to jail Harry Belafonte human hundred injustice integrated Joe Louis justice King knew labor land leadership living lunch counters meetings ment millions mingham ministers Montgomery Montgomery bus boycott moral move nation Negro community Negro leaders Negro Revolution never nonviolent direct action nonviolent resistance organized police political power structure President Kennedy protest race racial Ralph Ralph Abernathy Reverend Revolution run-off seek segregation segregationist sense sit-ins slavery social society South southern streets struggle summer of 1963 tion token unjust victory violence vote

Popular passages

Page 168 - ... when you see the vast majority of your twenty million Negro brothers smothering in an airtight cage of poverty in the midst of an affluent society; when you suddenly find your tongue twisted and your speech stammering as you seek to explain to your six-year-old daughter why she can't go to the public amusement park that has just been advertised on television, and see...‎
Appears in 199 books from 1922-2008
Page 18 - We are confronted primarily with a moral issue. It is as old as the Scriptures and is as clear as the American Constitution. The heart of the question is whether all Americans are to be afforded equal rights and equal opportunities, whether we are going to treat our fellow Americans as we want to be treated.‎
Appears in 220 books from 1936-2008
Page 168 - Daddy, why do white people treat colored people so mean?"; when you take a cross-country drive and find it necessary to sleep night after night in the uncomfortable corners of your automobile because no motel will accept you; when you are humiliated day in and day out by nagging signs reading "white...‎
Appears in 223 books from 1952-2007
Page 76 - But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream (Amos 5:21-24; emphasis added).‎
Appears in 493 books from 1914-2008
Page 82 - ... injustice and shameful humiliation — and yet out of a bottomless vitality they continued to thrive and develop. If the inexpressible cruelties of slavery could not stop us, the opposition we now face will surely fail. We will win our freedom because the sacred heritage of our nation and the eternal will of God are embodied in our echoing demands. 459 Before closing I feel impelled to mention one other point in your statement that has troubled me profoundly. You warmly commended the Birmingham...‎
Appears in 135 books from 1952-2007
Page 65 - Birmingham, since you have been influenced by the argument of "outsiders coming in." I have the honor of serving as president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, an organization operating in every Southern state, with headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia. We have some eighty-five affiliate organizations all across the South— one being the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights.‎
Appears in 52 books from 1960-2007
Page 82 - I have tried to make clear that it is wrong to use immoral means to attain moral ends. But now I must affirm that it is just as wrong, or perhaps even more so, to use moral means to preserve immoral ends. Perhaps Mr. Connor and his policemen have been rather nonviolent in public, as was Chief Pritchett in Albany, Georgia, but they have used the moral means of nonviolence to maintain the immoral end of racial injustice. As TS Eliot has said: "The last temptation is the greatest treason: To do the...‎
Appears in 325 books from 1916-2007
Page 74 - Christianity almost 2000 years to accomplish what it has. The teachings of Christ take time to come to earth.‎
Appears in 53 books from 1964-2007
Page 168 - Wait." But when you have seen vicious mobs lynch your mothers and fathers at will and drown your sisters and brothers at whim; when you have seen hate-filled policemen curse, kick...‎
Appears in 242 books from 1922-2007
Page 72 - That would lead to anarchy. One who breaks an unjust law must do so openly, lovingly, and with a willingness to accept the penalty. I submit that an individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust, and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the highest respect for law.‎
Appears in 202 books from 1946-2008

References to this book

Poor people's movements: why they succeed, how they fail
Frances Fox Piven,Richard A. Cloward
Snippet view - 1979
Black Macho and the Myth of the Superwoman
Michele Wallace
Limited preview - 1990
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References from web pages

Last Message: Why We Can't Wait
Why We Can't Wait. One of my first blog entries was a collection of quotes from Dr. King and Malcolm X. Since then, I've posted on a range of topics---most ...
lastmessage.blogspot.com/2007/10/why-we-cant-wait.html

Our rights, our future: Why We Can't Wait
trackback URL for this entry: http://www.typepad.com/t/trackback/2494200/27766232. Listed below are links to weblogs that reference Why We Can't Wait: ...
rollback.typepad.com/campaign/2008/04/why-we-cant-wai.html

Why we can't wait for affirmative action - Viewpoint
In his speech "Why We Can't Wait," Dr. King also stated "Whenever the issue of compensatory treatment for the Negro is raised, some of our friends recoil in ...
www.ndsmcobserver.com/news/2004/01/27/Viewpoint/Why-We.Cant.Wait.For.Affirmative.Action-588723.shtml

AACRAO Transcript - Leadership and Diversity--Why We Can't Wait!
Leadership and Diversity--Why We Can't Wait! Dear colleagues, As I examined the list of next year’s Board nominees forwarded by the N&E Committee, ...
www.aacrao.org/transcript/index.cfm?fuseaction=show_view&doc_id=1183

Why We Can't Wait By Martin Luther King Jr.
Why We Can't Wait By Martin Luther King Jr. - ... Home > Free Essays & Book Reports > Book Reports > Why We Can't Wait By Martin Luther King Jr. ...
www.freeessays.cc/db/10/bwa105.shtml

book.store.bg - Why We Can't Wait (Signet Classics) - Jr., Dr ...
As a piece of history Why We Can't Wait is certainly important, and at times, as in the letter portion of the book, the arguments are both eloquent and ...
import.book.store.bg/product/id-0451527534/why-we-can-39-t-wait-40-signet-classics-41-.html

Why We Can't Wait... To End This Debate!
In "Why We Can't Wait," Martin Luther King, Jr. describes the 1963 struggle for civil rights (Albany, Birmingham, and the March on Washington) that climaxed ...
www.soulforce.org/article/585

Term Paper on Civil Rights. Essays, Research Papers on Why We Can ...
We offer free example essays on Civil Rights, Why We Can't Wait Reaction Paper papers, and essays related to Why We Can't Wait Reaction Paper .
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Why We Can't Wait Free Term Papers, Free Essays, and Free Book Reports
Free essay on Why We Can't Wait and free term papers on Why We Can't Wait. Why We Can’t Wait In Martin Luther King’s Why We Can...
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Why We Can’t Wait Review - Martin Luther King - Salem on Literature
Why We Can’t Wait by Martin Luther King, Jr. ... Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Why We Can’t Wait was written in 1963 and published in early 1964. ...
www.enotes.com/why-we-cant-wait-salem/why-we-cant-wait

About the author (2000)

Martin Luther King, Jr., was born January 15, 1929 in Atlanta, Georgia, the son and grandson of pastors. He graduated from Morehouse College and Crozer Theological Seminary, becoming at age 25 pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama. He subsequently earned his Ph.D. from Boston University. In 1957 he and other civil rights leaders founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, an organization he led until his death. A proponent of Gandhian principles of non-violence, he led many protests and demonstrations for civil rights, including the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom on August 29, 1963, where he delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” speech. Winner of the 1964 Nobel Peace Prize, he continued to fight for civil rights, the eradication of poverty and the end of the Vietnam War. He was assassinated on April 4, 1968 in Memphis, TN.

Reverend Jesse L. Jackson, Sr., is the founder and president of the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, an organization committed to fighting for social, political, and economic justice for people of all races, genders, and creeds. A two-time candidate for President of the United States, Rev. Jackson has been called the “conscience of the nation.” Rev. Jackson is also renowned for his efforts around the world to spread the promise of democracy, human rights, and peace. Rev. Jackson and his wife, Jacqueline, reside in Chicago and are the proud parents of five children.

Bibliographic information

QR code for Why We Can't Wait
TitleWhy We Can't Wait
A Signet book
Signet classic
AuthorMartin Luther King (Jr.)
ContributorJesse Jackson
Editionillustrated, reprint, reissue
PublisherPenguin, 2000
ISBN0451527534, 9780451527530
Length166 pages
Subjects ›  › 

Biography & Autobiography / Cultural Heritage
Political Science / Civil Rights
Social Science / Ethnic Studies / African American Studies
  
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