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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.