The bombings and marches in Birmingham Alabama were major concerns for all civil rights leaders. During the 50's and 60's, civil rights leaders fought against injustice in different ways. Some civil rights leaders like Martin Luther King and Jessie Jackson fought against injustice with a pen. In 1963 Martin Luther King wrote a letter titled, "Letter From a Birmingham Jail", and Jessie Jackson wrote, "Jets of Water Blast Civil Rights Demonstrators, Birmingham, 1963." Martin Luther King and Jessie Jackson are two civil rights leaders of different generations, but with similar views concerning the Birmingham bombings. .
There is a noticeable age difference between Jackson and King, which results in two different perspectives. In Jessie Jackson's article he wrote about past experiences, because his article was written years after the Birmingham events. Jackson was just a college student at the time of the Birmingham bombings. He only had himself to worry about, but he chose to make the nation's problems his own. On the other hand, King's letter was written during the Birmingham events. At the time King was a nation-wide civil rights leader, with still a family to support and protect. .
During the civil rights movement in the 60's, each person involved had different experiences. Jessie Jackson recalls his experiences as a college student during the civil rights movement. Jackson discusses a particular event when he and a group were marching because, "About 600 to 700 of our fellow students were locked up in a senior citizens home built for 125 people" (McQuade & McQuade 334). King discusses his civil rights experience on a national level. He traveled from city to suburb to fight for equal rights. The amazing thing about Kings situation was that he was writing his letter from a jail cell, after peaceful protests. In order to have his words heard by the thousands that awaited his leadership, he had to smuggle the letter out in the form of toilet tissue.
