In honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, I wanted to revisit the letter he wrote April 16, 1963 while imprisoned in the city jail of Birmingham, Alabama, as a result of the nonviolent actions Dr. King spearheaded to bring national attention to the injustices of the segregationist South.

Not only is this letter a masterpiece of the human longing for freedom, it also forms a central pillar in my personal growth since the time I read it forty years ago in college. I share that story, as well.