In his writing Letter From a Birmingham City Jail, Martin Luther King defines and explains nonviolent direct action. He says it “seeks to create such a crisis and establish such creative tension that a community that has constantly refused to negotiate is forced to confront the issue” (pg 291). This nonviolent direct action is both significant and unique to King’s role within the Civil Right’s Movement. For a movement that was so filled with violence, King relied on agape love and moral-suasion to win support and affect change. This contrast between black nonviolence and the overt violence of their white oppressors was a startling sight for the public. King’s concept of taking the higher road without humiliating his oppressors was his way of bringing American racial issues to the forefront of public thought. His nonviolent rhetoric won him interracial support and solidified the future of his legacy as an icon for the Civil Right’s Movement.