Why We Can't Wait is a 1964 book by Martin Luther King Jr. about the nonviolent movement against racial segregation in the United States, and specifically the 1963 Birmingham campaign.

[1] Soon after, Levison made a deal with New American Library publisher Victor Weybright, who suggested that the theme of not waiting be used for the title.

Weybright also gave permission for "Letter from Birmingham Jail" to be republished in national newspapers and magazines; it appeared in July 1963 as "Why the Negro Won't Wait".

If all twenty million Negroes would keep looking at Ralph Bunche, the one man in so exalted a post would generate such a volume of pride that it could be cut into portions and served to everyone.

Du Bois's appeal to The Talented Tenth, the Pan-Africanism of Marcus Garvey, and the litigation of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).

[22] He chronicles preliminary demonstrations held by the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights (ACHR)[23] and then describes Bull Connor's attempts to intimidate the SCLC.

(Volunteers who signed the card pledged to meditate on the life of Jesus, pray daily, observe the interests of the community, and to seek "justice and reconciliation—not victory".

King describes mass participation by young people, full jails, and international media attention fueled by powerful photographs.

The bombing at King's hotel room triggered a civil disturbance in Birmingham which brought in the police forces and then the National Guard.

[31] King advocates continued action in Birmingham, comparing the campaign to the Battle of Bunker Hill—the beginning of organization in a revolutionary army.

[32] He calls for multi-racial unity, suggesting that Africans were not the only group oppressed in America: "Our nation was born in genocide when it embraced the doctrine that the original American, the Indian, was an inferior race.

[41] Why We Can't Wait was an important part of the effort to make the civil rights struggle known to national and international audiences.

[42] Adbusters cited Why We Can't Wait (and the Poor People's Campaign) in September 2011 as an inspiration for Occupy Wall Street.

[43] In October 2011, the Obama administration started using the slogan "We Can't Wait", based on the plan to enact policies despite a resistant Congress.