Forum Post: ...........NEWSFLASH ON TACTICS: Martin Luther King, Jr. remained non-violent and the civil rights movement had major force and power as a result. King did resist. Actively. And he went to jail. So did his supporters. A lot. Here's why it worked...

When you're dealing with THIS http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZLyUK0t0vQ&feature=youtube_gdata_player active NON-violent resistance is the only answer. Proven tactics that work!!! Gandhi beat the British wearing a bed sheet. King and his supporters won civil rights for millions.

"Nonviolent direct action seeks to create such a crisis and foster such a tension that a community which has constantly refused to negotiate is forced to confront the issue. It seeks to so dramatize the issue that it can no longer be ignored. My citing the creation of tension as part of the work of the nonviolent-resister may sound rather shocking. But I must confess that I am not afraid of the word "tension." I have earnestly opposed violent tension, but there is a type of constructive, nonviolent tension which is necessary for growth. Just as Socrates felt that it was necessary to create a tension in the mind so that individuals could rise from the bondage of myths and half-truths to the unfettered realm of creative analysis and objective appraisal, we must we see the need for nonviolent gadflies to create the kind of tension in society that will help men rise from the dark depths of prejudice and racism to the majestic heights of understanding and brotherhood.

The purpose of our direct-action program is to create a situation so crisis-packed that it will inevitably open the door to negotiation. I therefore concur with you in your call for negotiation."

Here's the entire "Letter from the Birmingham Jail": http://abacus.bates.edu/admin/offices/dos/mlk/letter.html