The Call for Unity
While sitting in a Birmingham, Alabama jail cell in 1963, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was given a copy of the local newspaper. Included in that issue was a letter submitted by eight white clergy that became known at the time as “a call for unity.” This appeal for calm was a veiled attempt to silence the enthusiasm created by the non-violent protests led by Dr. King and his associates. And, given its authorship, attempted to leverage the very authority of God.