"I Have a Dream" speech and "Letter from a Birmingham Jail" express a nonviolent commitment to the movement. Which figure authored these works?

• A. Martin Luther King Jr.
• B. Rosa Parks
• C. Malcolm X
• D. Thurgood Marshall

Answer: (A)

The main idea here is recognizing who framed the Civil Rights Movement around nonviolence in its most famous writings. Martin Luther King Jr. is the author of both the “I Have a Dream” speech and the “Letter from a Birmingham Jail.” These works embody his commitment to nonviolence as the method for achieving justice. The “I Have a Dream” speech, delivered at the 1963 March on Washington, lays out a hopeful, integrated vision for the nation and argues for change through peaceful, moral persuasion. The “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” written while he was jailed for protests, explains why nonviolent direct action is necessary, rejects the idea of waiting indefinitely for justice, and defends civil disobedience against unjust laws. Rosa Parks is famous for sparking the Montgomery Bus Boycott; Malcolm X promoted different, at times more militant approaches; Thurgood Marshall was a legal strategist who argued landmark desegregation cases. So the author is Martin Luther King Jr.