# Why We Can't Wait

Canonical: https://www.bookquiver.com/king-martin/why-we-cant-wait/9780241345450

![Why We Can't Wait](https://quivercdn.com/covers/penguin/martin-luther-king-jr/why-we-cant-wait_978-02-4134-545-0.jpg?v=2026-04-24%2014%3A07%3A09)

- Book: [Why We Can't Wait](https://www.bookquiver.com/king-martin/why-we-cant-wait) ([Why We Can't Wait.md](https://www.bookquiver.com/king-martin/why-we-cant-wait.md))
- Authors: [Martin Luther King, Jr.](https://www.bookquiver.com/king-martin)
- Publisher: Penguin
- Medium: ebook
- ISBN: 978-02-4134-545-0
- Published: 2018-03-01
- Language: en_GB
- Binding: E-book

## Description

In 1963, Birmingham, Alabama, was perhaps the most racially divided city in the United States. African-Americans lacked basic rights, earned less than half of what whites earned, and were regularly given unjust jail sentences for protesting. The Birmingham Campaign - a Civil Rights movement launched by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in early 1963 - aimed to bring about economic and social change for African-Americans, in Birmingham as well as across the United States, whilst demonstrating to the world the enormous power of nonviolent direct action. In Why We Can't Wait , King recounts the remarkable story of Birmingham in vivid detail. Tracing the history of the struggle for civil rights back to its beginnings in colonial-era slavery, King outlines the challenges of the present and the future, assessing the work to be done both in and beyond Birmingham to bring about full equality for African-Americans. Above all, he offers an eloquent and penetrating analysis of the events and pressures that propelled the Civil Rights movement from lunch counter sit-ins and prayer marches to the forefront of American consciousness. As resonant today as it was upon publication in 1964, Why We Can't Wait is both a unique document of a pivotal moment in American history and an enduring testament to the wise, courageous and endlessly hopeful vision of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.