Martin Luther King, Jr.: “Letter from Birmingham Jail”
(1963)
Commentary by Paul T. Murray, Siena College
Glossary
- black nationalism the belief that blacks should live separately from whites
- concoct to invent
- cognizant aware
- complacency a feeling of contentment or self-satisfaction
- ekklesia Greek term for a congregation of believers
- gainsaying contradicting
- inevitability the impossibility of avoiding or preventing
- lamentably with regret
- latent hidden; unseen
- moratorium a temporary halt or cessation of activity
- query a question
- paradoxical inconsistent; contradictory
- paternalistically in a fatherly manner exercised authoritatively
- precipitate to cause to happen suddenly
- reiterate to repeat
- sanctimonious pretending to be pious or righteous
- Zeitgeist German term for “spirit of the times”
