Citizenship is improving the country. Martin Luther King Jr. was a very influential figure leading to the Civil Rights movement. In King’s Letter from Birmingham, he writes, “There are some instances when a law is just on its face and unjust in its application. For instance, I was arrested Friday on a charge of parading without a permit. Now, there is nothing wrong with an ordinance which requires a permit for a parade, but when the ordinance is used to preserve segregation and to deny citizens the First Amendment privilege of peaceful assembly and peaceful protest, then it becomes unjust.” King showed citizenship by fighting for the rights guaranteed in the Constitution that all people are created equal. He changed and improved the lives of many drastically. Citizenship is also keeping yourself informed whether this is watching the news or checking news channels. As we looked over the political figures pages in class, we were educating ourselves about the candidates. This demonstrates citizenship because it is important to keep yourself informed so your vote is for the good of the country. Educating yourself also gives you a good understanding of everything that is going on. Additionally, it is vital to know what the people in your country think. President Obama showed great citizenship by not only being a leader but trying to understand the people of his country. For example, in the article, Obama’s Secret to Surviving the White House Years: Books, by Michiko Kakutani, the author states, “Some novels helped him to better “imagine what’s going on in the lives of people” across the country — for instance, he found that Marilynne Robinson’s novels connected him emotionally to the people he was meeting in Iowa during the 2008 campaign, and to his own grandparents, who were from the Midwest, and the small town values of hard work and honesty and humility. Obama was trying to better perceive the lives of his citizens by putting himself in their shoes. Reading books about the lives of his people gave Obama a whole new perspective. In Soul of a Citizen, Loeb talks about taking action. He says, “A similar process occurs when we want to address public issues but stay silent”. This is very true for many that want a change but think they're actions won't do anything. A huge aspect of citizenship is getting involved in our country. In Soul of a Citizen, we learn that your actions do make a difference and are impactful. Throughout the first chapters, he is serving as an inspiration to devote change.