MartinLutherKING

Alan C. McLean

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The author and publisher wOllld like to thank the following for the use of photographs and artwork:

Art Archive p 4 (slave ship, slave market); Associated Press pp 11 (King speaks to media), 13 (George Wallace),24 (strike); Camera Press PP 1 (porrrait by Karsh), 15, 20 (Malcolm X); Corbis, co ver and pp 6-7 (WWJl), 7 (jazz),

9 (Alabama), 10, 11 (jail), 18 (march), 19 (church, Nobel Prize), 20 (Huey Newton), 22, 26, 27; Hulton Getty pp 5(L'Ollverture), 6 (Lincoln, Williamsburg), 14-15, 23 (ghetto); Magnum Photographs PP 3, 9 (King and family),

13 (LinJe Rock), 17, 20 (dolis), 23 (Vietnam protesr); Popperfoto l' 8; Redfems l' 21;Topham Picturepoint pp 16 (police, hosepipes), 25; Martin Ursell l' 5 (map).

18

10 'This country is sick!'

A month after Martin's Washington

speech, there was more violence.

Again the place was Birmingham. Abomb was thrown into a black

church and four little black girlswere killed. It was hard to believe

that there was so much hate in

America. And it was hard for Martin

to persuade people that non-violence

was the best way to fight those who

hated. Especially when moreviolence followed.

On 22 November, 1963, President

John F. Kennedy was shot dead in

Dallas, Texas. Martin had known

The march to Montgomery

Kennedy weIl and worked wi th him.

They had argued about the be st way

of getting equal rights for blacks, but

they had agreed that equality mustcome soon.

Like most Americans, Martin was

shocked by Kennedy's death. 'This

country is sick,' he said. There were

times when he thought he too might

be killed one day.He wondered about the new

president. Lyndon Johnson came from

the South. Would he follow Kennedy's

policy on ending segregation or would

he change it? Only time would tell.

Birmingham. A church stood here

After his Washington speech,Martin became famous alI over the

world. When people thought of the

fight for civil rights in America, they

thought of Martin Luther King. In

1964 he won the Nobel Peace Prize

for his civil rights work. He was only

thirty-five years old - the youngest

person ever to win this great prize.Meanwhile Martin's work

continued. In the South there were

very few elected black leaders. This

was because very few blacks were

registered to vote. In Mississippi, for

example, only 7% of blacks were

registered to vote. When blacks tried

to register, they were often turned

away. Martin realized that getting

blacks to vote was the best way of

changing the segregation laws in theSouth.

One of the worst states for

registering black voters was

The Nobel Peace Prize

Alabama. More than 300,000 black

voters were not registered. Martin

was asked to help register black

voters in Selma, Alabama.

Day after day, black peoplemarched to the law courts in Selma.

The police tried to stop them. They

beat the protesters and one man waskilled.

Martin decided to lead a march

from Selma to Montgomery, the

state capital of Alabama. More than

thir ty thousand people joined themarch.

The state governor, George

Wallace, refused to meet the

marchers. But the government in

Washington heard what the

marchers were saying. Later that

year, Martin Luther King was

present when President Johnson

signed a law to protect the rights ofaU Americans to vote.

19