Cara Tumino

"You may well ask, 'Why direct action? Why sit-ins, marches, etc.? Isn't negotiation a better path?' You are exactly right in your call for negotiation. Indeed, this is the purpose of direct action. Nonviolent direct action seeks to create such a crisis and establish such creative tension that a community that has constantly refused to negotiate is forced to confront the issue."

Letter From Birmingham City Jail, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

By talking and focusing so much on nonviolence, this passage homes in on Dr. King's message. The word creative is prominent in other work of his and it plays a large role in the fight for equality and other justices. If people did things that happen every day to raise awareness for a cause,it would probably go unnoticed. These creative protests call attention to the issue of inequality. BY using the word "creative", Dr. King makes something ordinary become unique. The use of words like "creative", "crisis", "purpose", "direct action", and "negotiate" perfectly represent the purpose of this letter and why what Dr. King did was so effective. "Forced" has a negative connotation, but using it in this context makes it positive because he is trying to get across a meaningful message that people need to hear.