11 Chapter 7 Freedom Comes to Birmingham

Chapter 7 Freedom Comes to Birmingham Martin Luther King, Jr., understood that the civil rights movement would suffer defeats. But now he was more determined than ever to prove the power of peaceful protest. He looked for the city with the toughest Jim Crow laws. It was Birmingham, Alabama. If Albany, Georgia, was bad, Birmingham was worse. Schools were still segregated in Birmingham. The water fountains were marked "colored" or "white." Birmingham's police commissioner was Bull Connor. He was very tough on black people. He made them afraid to speak out against Jim Crow laws. Even the white people who did not like segregation were afraid to say anything.

第七章自由来到伯明翰马丁·路德·金知道民权运动将遭受失败。 但现在他比以往任何时候都更坚定地要证明和平抗议的力量。 他寻找的城市有最严厉的吉姆·克劳法。 那是阿拉巴马州的伯明翰。 如果说乔治亚州的奥尔巴尼很糟糕，那么伯明翰更糟。 伯明翰的学校仍然实行种族隔离。 饮水机上标着“有色”或“白色”。 伯明翰的警察局长是布尔·康纳。 他对黑人很严厉。 他让他们不敢公开反对吉姆·克劳法。 即使是不喜欢种族隔离的白人也不敢说什么。

Martin and the leaders of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference had a plan. Besides sit-ins at lunch counters, meetings were held at black churches all around Birmingham. At churches, protesters talked to people. They talked about peaceful protest. They sang freedom songs: "We shall overcome, Black and white together, We shall overcome someday." As Martin knew, the songs inspired a crowd; they gave black people courage for a good cause.

马丁和南方基督教领袖会议的领袖们制定了一个计划。 除了在午餐柜台静坐，集会也在伯明翰的黑人教堂举行。 在教堂，抗议者与人们交谈。 他们谈到了和平抗议。 他们唱着自由之歌:“我们一定会胜利，黑人和白人一起，我们总有一天会胜利。” 马丁知道，这些歌鼓舞了一群人;他们给了黑人做好事的勇气。

The Birmingham protests began. After three days of sit-ins, thirty-five people had been arrested. Now it was time for th second part of Martin's plan.

伯明翰抗议活动开始了。 经过三天的静坐，有35人被捕。 现在是实施马丁计划的第二部分的时候了。

Martin and the leaders of the SCLC decided to boycott white businesses. Martin knew this would anger store owners. Almost half the people living in Birmingham were black. Without black customers, stores would have a hard time making money. On April 6, Martin organized a march to the Birmingham City Hall. Many people joined this march. Bull Connor was growing angry. He and

马丁和南方基督教领袖大会的领导人决定抵制白人企业。 马丁知道这会激怒店主。 住在伯明翰的人几乎有一半是黑人。 如果没有黑人顾客，商店将很难赚钱。 4月6日，马丁组织了一次前往伯明翰市政厅的游行。 许多人参加了这次游行。 公牛康纳越来越生气了。 他和

the policemen took clubs and beat some of the protestors. Police dogs were let loose. But the people did not run away. Instead, they became stronger. After ten days, five hundred people had been sent to jail. Some were released on bail, but about three hundred remained locked up. Up until this time, Martin had not taken part in the marches. If he joined in, then he'd be arrested. And if he was in jail, he wouldn't be able to stay in charge. On April 12, Martin and the other leaders of the protest met in Martin's hotel room. Martin's father and brother were there, too. Martin Luther King, Sr., wanted his son to come home. Easter was on Sunday, and he wanted Martin back at church to preach. Some of the other leaders thought Martin should stay and lead a protest. Other leaders did not want him to march because they feared he would be arrested. And still others thought that Martin should try to raise money to bail out protesters from jail.

警察拿起棍棒殴打了一些抗议者。 警犬被放了出来。 但是人们并没有逃跑。 相反，他们变得更强大了。 十天后，五百人被送进了监狱。 其中一些人获得保释，但仍有大约300人被关押。 在此之前，马丁从未参加过游行。 如果他加入，他就会被捕。 如果他进了监狱，他就不能继续掌权了。 4月12日，马丁和抗议活动的其他领导人在马丁的酒店房间会面。 马丁的父亲和哥哥也在那里。 老马丁·路德·金希望他的儿子回家。 星期天是复活节，他想让马丁回到教堂布道。 其他一些领导人认为马丁应该留下来领导抗议活动。 其他领导人不希望他参加游行，因为他们担心他会被捕。 还有一些人认为，马丁应该设法筹集资金，把抗议者从监狱里解救出来。

An argument started. Martin left the room to think and pray. When he returned, he was wearing jeans. (He wore jeans whenever he went to jail.) Martin had made up his mind: He would join the protestors on their next march.

一场争论开始了。马丁离开房间去思考和祈祷。 当他回来的时候，他穿着牛仔裤。 (他每次进监狱都穿牛仔裤。)马丁已下定决心:他将参加抗议者的下一次游行。