From the Boston Tea Party of 1773, to the civil rights movement and pro-life movement of the 1960s, to the Tea Party movement and Occupy Wall Street movement of today , “those fighting against unjust laws have engaged in acts of deliberate and open disobedience to government power to uphold higher principles of human rights and social justice” (DeForrest, 1998, p. 653) through nonviolent protests. Perhaps the best known of the nonviolent protests are those associated with the civil rights movement. The movement was felt throughout the South, but Birmingham, Alabama, was known for its unequal treatment of blacks and became the center of the civil rights movement. Under the leadership of Martin Luther King Jr., president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, African Americans in Birmingham began daily demonstrations and sit-ins to protest discrimination at lunch counters and in public facilities. These demonstrations were organized to draw attention to the injustices present in the city. The demonstrations led to the arrest of protesters, including Martin Luther King. After King was arrested in Birmingham for taking part in a peaceful march to draw attention to the way African Americans were treated, their lack of voting rights, and the extreme injustice they faced in Alabama, he wrote his The now famous “Letter from Birmingham.” To understand the purpose of King's letter, it is important to begin by explaining “A Call of Unity,” a letter written by a group of white clergymen urging an end to the demonstrations. The letter was published in Birmingham Post Herald with a copy delivered to King contained many claims, including that the demonstrations were led by our... medium of paper... Wall Street protests spread nationwide - ABC News. " ABCNews.com: Daily News, Breaking News and Video Broadcasts - ABC News. October 6, 2011. Web. November 5, 2011. .Haines, Herbert H.. "Black Radicalization and the Financing of Civil Rights: 1957-1970." 32.1 (1984): 31-43. HeinOnline Web. November 5, 2011. King, Jr., “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” King Institute Home. Martin Luther King Jr. Research and Education Institute, April 16, 1963. Web. November 5, 2011. Marshall, Burke "The Protest Movement and the Law" Virginia Law Review 51.5 (1965): 785-. 803. JSTOR Web. 5 November. 2011.