On the 50th anniversary of the day that Martin Luther King, Jr. began writing his famous “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” the Clinton School and Clinton Foundation will join participants around the world for a public reading of King’s letter in celebration.

King wrote the letter in 1963 after he was arrested for participating in the Birmingham Campaign, a non-violent protest against racial segregation in the city. Written in response to criticism of the campaign from local clergy, the letter became a classic document of the Civil Rights Movement.

Those reading the letter will include elementary school and middle school students, local celebrities, Clinton Foundation staff and Clinton School students. This event is sponsored in conjunction with the Birmingham Public Library.

The program will take place at 12 noon today in the Great Hall of the Clinton Presidential Center.