Who Was Martin Luther King Jr 马丁·路德·金 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 1 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 2 in Birmingham. The water fountains were marked “colored” or “white.”

Birmingham’s police commissioner 3 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 4 were afraid to say anything.

Martin and the leaders of the Southern Christian 5 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 6 to boycott 7 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 8, 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.

Just as expected, Martin was arrested. Usually, he was able to call Coretta right away. But this time, he was not allowed to make a call. After two days, Coretta, who had recently given birth to their fourth child, became frantic 9.

Martin had been put in a jail cell all by himself. No one was allowed to visit, not even his lawyers. The cell was small and very dark. The only light came from a tiny window near the ceiling. Martin was scared. He worried about his wife and family. He worried about other protesters.

Even white ministers were against Martin. In a letter to the Birmingham News, eight white pastors 10 said that protest was wrong. They felt the SCLC should not break laws. They said that Martin and his group were stirring up hatred 11 and violence.

In response, Martin wrote a long letter. Since he did not have any paper in jail, he wrote on the edges of newspapers. He even wrote on toilet paper. In this letter, Martin said that people should obey just laws, but they should disobey unjust laws. Even so, he said, they should always behave peacefully. And people should be ready to accept punishment for disobeying the laws.

Martin willingly served his time in jail. After eight days, he was released. Martin could see the light of day again.

Now one of Martin’s advisers 12 had a new plan. He wanted to organize a “children’s march.” At first, Martin was against this plan. Wasn’t it too dangerous? But Martin’s advisers did not think that the police would throw children in jail.

Thousands of Birmingham children—from six-year-olds to teenagers—were trained in peaceful protest. They joined together in marches. And, yes—some children were put in jail.

On May 2, a huge demonstration 13 was planned. Thousands of young people wanted to take part. At one black school, the principal locked up the gates to keep the students inside. But they climbed over the gates. This march was too important to miss. They were marching for freedom.

Bull Connor and his men came to the march, too. They brought clubs to beat the protestors. Police dogs ripped at the marchers’ clothes. The police knocked down people with blasts of water from giant fire hoses. Then the home of Martin’s brother was fire bombed. Other bombs were set around the city.

But reporters were there, too. And cameramen. They wrote stories. They filmed what was happening. By the 1960s, most American homes had a television. Through television, people became more connected to the outside world. It is one thing to read about an attack in a newspaper. It is quite different to see it happening on TV. Martin understood the power of television. He was glad that this struggle was being brought into people’s living rooms on a daily basis. Americans were outraged 14!

Many white business leaders in Birmingham were fed up. But what upset many the most was not the violence, but all the lost business. They held a meeting and decided to give in on some of the marchers’ demands. These were some of the promises:

• Lunch counters, restrooms, fitting rooms, and drinking fountains would be desegregated.

• Blacks would be able to get better jobs.

• The protestors in jail would be released.

• A committee of black people and white people would be formed to help ease tensions between the races.

At last, the Jim Crow laws in Birmingham were gone. Martin had won a great victory!