The Montgomery bus boycott made King famous, and he became very busy. He helped form a new organization, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), dedicated to working for civil rights, and he became its leader.
He wrote a book about the boycott. While he was signing copies of it in a New York City bookstore, a mentally ill woman stabbed him in the chest with a letter opener. His doctor told him that if he had sneezed, he could have died. The assault confirmed King’s awareness that he faced enemies and possible death.
While King was in the hospital, he received many letters. Here’s one he would never forget:


SIT-INS

▲ In 1960, four Black students sat at a Whites-only lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina, and asked for coffee and doughnuts. They were told to leave, but they stayed until closing. The next day, they returned with more students. Soon, Black and White students all over the South were taking part in sit-ins. People jeered at them, and some people poured drinks or dumped food on them, but the students had been trained in nonviolent resistance and did not fight back. In Atlanta, King joined the sit-ins and was again arrested.
“The children understood the stakes they were fighting for.”
FREEDOM RIDERS

▲ In 1961, young people tested the Supreme Court’s ruling that Black and White people were allowed to share the same facilities at bus terminals, because in practice, in the South, the law was ignored. Black and White people boarded buses in Washington, D.C. As they traveled into the South, these people, who became known as Freedom Riders, were beaten. One bus was bombed. In Montgomery, the Riders spent an anxious night in Ralph Abernathy’s church while White people rioted outside. King spent the night with them. Above, National Guardsmen are pictured protecting Freedom Riders.
BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA

◀ In 1963, Birmingham was one of the most segregated cities in the U.S. King chose it for an important campaign. Although a terrible price was paid in human life, the campaign was ultimately a success. In 1964, President Johnson signed into law a Civil Rights Bill that made segregation illegal throughout the U.S. Here, King is pictured addressing a rally at the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church, which was the headquarters for the campaign.
In Birmingham, Black demonstrators marched peacefully to protest segregation. Time and again, they were arrested. On Good Friday, April 12, 1963, King and Abernathy were arrested, and King was thrown into solitary confinement, where he was not even allowed to make a phone call. ▶



◀ On September 15, 1963, Birmingham’s Sixteenth Street Baptist Church Sunday School was bombed, and four children were killed. Another 20 children were injured, including Sarah Jean Collins (pictured), who was struck in the eyes by flying glass. Her sister was one of the children who died. After the bombing, rioting broke out. Two Black people were killed, and many Black and White people were injured.

▲ Birmingham’s police commissioner, Eugene “Bull” Connor, lost patience with the demonstrators. Policemen and firemen turned high-powered hoses on the marchers and set police dogs against them. Newspapers published pictures of the violence, and people around the world were disgusted. On a Sunday afternoon, Connor ordered his men to turn the hoses on a group of Black people who were kneeling in prayer. The police officers and firefighters refused. The Black people stood up and bravely continued their march while Connor looked on.
“Free at last! Free at last! Thank God almighty, we are free at last!”
