rickyturner's review against another edition
5.0
How could I give this a lower rating? Especially containing the letter from Birmingham Jail. It’s an important historical document, but an equally important philosophical and religious document.
paigenetting's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
3.75
kristidurbs's review against another edition
5.0
This should be required reading for every American. Such a well reasoned and insightful historical account of the civil rights movement.
chemical_crash's review against another edition
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.5
soosoyi's review against another edition
5.0
"They know that the first American to shed blood in the revolution which freed his country from British oppression was a black seaman named Crispus Attucks".
"Just as lightening makes no sound until it strikes".
"Three hundred years of humiliation, abuse, and deprivation cannot be expected to find voice in a whisper".
"The posture of silent waiting was forced upon him psychologically because he was shackled physically".
"As broadcasting profession will confirm, no shows are so successful as those which allow for audience participation. In order to be somebody, people must feel themselves part of something".
"Human beings with all their faults and strengths constitute the mechanism of a social movement. They must make mistakes and learn anew. They must taste defeat as well as success, and discover how to live with each. Time and action are the teachers".
"You have to be prepared to die before you can begin to live".
"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere".
Amos - "Let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream".
"Let us all hope that the dark clouds of racial prejudice will soon pass away and the deep fog of misunderstanding will be lifted from our fear-drenched communities, and in some not too distant tomorrow the radiant stars of love and brotherhood will shine over our great nation with all their scintillating beauty".
"But in some places the white power structure had frozen into position. Injustice was not an evil to be corrected even partially - it was an institution to be defended".
"A social movement that only moves people is merely a revolt. A movement that changes both people and institutions is a revolution".
"There is a right and wrong side in this conflict and the government does not belong in the middle".
"There must also be a philosophy, acceptable to the people, and stronger than resignation toward sudden death".
"Just as lightening makes no sound until it strikes".
"Three hundred years of humiliation, abuse, and deprivation cannot be expected to find voice in a whisper".
"The posture of silent waiting was forced upon him psychologically because he was shackled physically".
"As broadcasting profession will confirm, no shows are so successful as those which allow for audience participation. In order to be somebody, people must feel themselves part of something".
"Human beings with all their faults and strengths constitute the mechanism of a social movement. They must make mistakes and learn anew. They must taste defeat as well as success, and discover how to live with each. Time and action are the teachers".
"You have to be prepared to die before you can begin to live".
"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere".
Amos - "Let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream".
"Let us all hope that the dark clouds of racial prejudice will soon pass away and the deep fog of misunderstanding will be lifted from our fear-drenched communities, and in some not too distant tomorrow the radiant stars of love and brotherhood will shine over our great nation with all their scintillating beauty".
"But in some places the white power structure had frozen into position. Injustice was not an evil to be corrected even partially - it was an institution to be defended".
"A social movement that only moves people is merely a revolt. A movement that changes both people and institutions is a revolution".
"There is a right and wrong side in this conflict and the government does not belong in the middle".
"There must also be a philosophy, acceptable to the people, and stronger than resignation toward sudden death".
nick_jenkins's review against another edition
5.0
Not enough attention is given to how excellent this book is. Perhaps because King is so surpassingly famous as an orator and as a sermonist, the other virtues of this book are overshadowed by the inclusion of "Letter from Birmingham Jail," which reads like a sermon. But this book does so many things well, is such a tour de force of modes of writing and analysis and prescription: to me, it should be read and studied like that other multi-faceted classic of African-American intellectual history, The Souls of Black Folk. Perhaps what I wish to say is that this is much more than a text of moral exhortation: it tells a history vividly, it blocks out an incisive sociological analysis of the intersection of class and race, both within the South and at a global scale; and it sets down a powerful, detailed, and precise political economic program for social transformation, including a form of reparations. Like so many polymathic thinkers in US history (including Du Bois), there is often one side of the person which overshadows the others, and it is a continuous struggle to remind oneself and others how endlessly rich the thinking of people like King was and remains for us to encounter.
aj1's review against another edition
5.0
Amazing. Should be required reading of every high schooler (and congress-person).
gracepick6290's review against another edition
5.0
Why We Can't Wait contains the full text of King's “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” one of the most profound and significant American documents ever written. Bookending the letter is his account of the events of 1963, principally focusing on the protests in Birmingham. The book explains and expounds on many of the ideas addressed in his letter, especially his belief in the effectiveness of nonviolent protest, a response to the myth of timeliness, and his frustration with the passivity of the "white moderate."