Blessed Are the Peacemakers

Martin Luther King Jr., Eight White Religious Leaders, and the "Letter from Birmingham Jail"

S. Jonathan Bass

• Publisher: LSU Press
• Year: 2021
• eBook ISBN: 9780807175927
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: African American History
• Index: History

Martin Luther King Jr.'s "Letter from Birmingham Jail" is arguably the most important written document of the civil rights protest era and a widely read modern literary classic. Personally addressed to eight white Birmingham clergy who sought to avoid violence by publicly discouraging King's civil rights demonstrations in Birmingham, the nationally published "Letter" captured the essence of the struggle for racial equality and provided a blistering critique of the gradualist approach to racial justice. It soon became part of American folklore, and the image of King penning his epistle from a prison cell remains among the most moving of the era. Yet, as S. Jonathan Bass explains in the first comprehensive history of King's "Letter, " this image and the piece's literary appeal conceal a much more complex tale.This updated edition of Blessed Are the Peacemakers includes a new foreword by Paul Harvey, a new afterword by James C. Cobb, and a new epilogue by the author.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• Illustrations
• Foreword
• Preface
• Abbreviations Used in the Notes
• Introduction
• 1 “Aristocracy of the Damn Fools”
• 2 In the South By and By
• 3 Turning the Corner
• 4 “Grand Fraternity of the Harassed”
• 5 Eyes on the Press: Birmingham and the SCLC
• 6 The Prison Epistle
• 7 Gospel of Publicity
• 8 “Let It Alone”
• 9 “This City Isn’t Dead Yet”
• Conclusion
• Epilogue to the 2021 Edition: Pastors Who Paid the Price
• Afterword
• Appendix 1 The White Ministers’ Law and Order Statement, January 16, 1963: “An Appeal for Law and Order and Common Sense”
• Appendix 2 The White Ministers’ Good Friday Statement, April 12, 1963
• Appendix 3 A Documentary Edition of the “Letter from Birmingham Jail”
• Appendix 4 The White Ministers’ Anti-Violence Statement, September 7, 1963
• Notes
• Bibliography
• Index