As the nation celebrates what would have been Martin Luther King’s 83rd birthday, Sharon Shahid wonders whether his famed essay, Letter from Birmingham Jail, “would have made such a lasting impression or had as powerful an impact if today’s instant communication devices existed, and if someone smuggled a BlackBerry or a mobile phone into his cell. What would have happened if he texted the famous letter or used Twitter — in 140 characters or fewer?”
“Instead of a legacy,” she suggests, “he most likely would have started a conversation.”
