Why We Can't Wait

In 1963, Birmingham, Alabama, was perhaps the most racially divided city in the United States. African-Americans lacked basic rights, earned less than half of what whites earned, and were regularly given unjust jail sentences for protesting. The Birmingham Campaign - a Civil Rights movement launched by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in early 1963 - aimed to bring about economic and social change for African-Americans, in Birmingham as well as across the United States, whilst demonstrating to the world the enormous power of nonviolent direct action. In Why We Can't Wait , King recounts the remarkable story of Birmingham in vivid detail. Tracing the history of the struggle for civil rights back to its beginnings in colonial-era slavery, King outlines the challenges of the present and the future, assessing the work to be done both in and beyond Birmingham to bring about full equality for African-Americans. Above all, he offers an eloquent and penetrating analysis of the events and pressures that propelled the Civil Rights movement from lunch counter sit-ins and prayer marches to the forefront of American consciousness. As resonant today as it was upon publication in 1964, Why We Can't Wait is both a unique document of a pivotal moment in American history and an enduring testament to the wise, courageous and endlessly hopeful vision of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.