Because They Marched: Chapter 6

Reporters had been kept at a distance from the action, but their telephoto lenses had captured almost the entire attack—“the flailing clubs, the stampeding horses, the jeering crowd and the stricken, fleeing blacks.”

Reporters had been kept at a distance from the action, but their telephoto lenses had captured almost the entire attack—“the flailing clubs, the stampeding horses, the jeering crowd and the stricken, fleeing blacks.”

Reporters had been kept at a distance from the action, but their telephoto lenses had captured almost the entire attack—“the flailing clubs, the stampeding horses, the jeering crowd and the stricken, fleeing blacks.”

“It looked like war,” Selma mayor Smitherman recalled. “[Television coverage] went all over the country. And the people, the wrath of the nation came down on us.”

Some, unable to book space on scheduled flights, had chartered planes.

Governor Wallace had called the judge “a low-down, carpet-baggin’, scalawaggin’, race-mixin’ liar,” a solid recommendation in some folks’ view.

Governor Wallace had called the judge “a low-down, carpet-baggin’, scalawaggin’, race-mixin’ liar,” a solid recommendation in some folks’ view.

He assured his listeners that the march to Montgomery would be attempted again the next day, but at the same time, he “gave the distinct impression that he was involved in some protracted struggle with his conscience.”

He assured his listeners that the march to Montgomery would be attempted again the next day, but at the same time, he “gave the distinct impression that he was involved in some protracted struggle with his conscience.”

Early Tuesday morning, King met privately with an official from the Justice Department who proposed a token march as a compromise.

Early Tuesday morning, King met privately with an official from the Justice Department who proposed a token march as a compromise.

Some marchers hoisted signs in the air: “Police intimidation enslaves us all”; “Silence is no longer golden.”

King asked everyone to kneel, and 1,500 marchers in a line stretching back almost a mile sank to their knees. Prayers were offered by two ministers and a rabbi.

As the crowd rose to its feet, Cloud abruptly turned and ordered the troopers to step aside, clearing the road and inviting King to defy the federal court order.

“All of a sudden I realized that the people in front were turning around and coming back,” one marcher recalled, “and I was aghast. What is going on? Are we not going through with this confrontation? What’s happening?”

He had not wanted to violate the court order, he said, but he felt that the marchers had to confront the state troopers to demonstrate their resolve.

“If I had not done it, the pent-up emotions, the inner tensions...would have exploded into retaliatory violence.”

His death provoked a national outcry and massive sympathy marches in cities across the North.

His death provoked a national outcry and massive sympathy marches in cities across the North.

Johnson ended his speech by invoking the civil rights movement’s favorite freedom song, its anthem and its most compelling theme: “Their cause must be our cause too. Because it is not just Negroes, but really all of us who must overcome the crippling legacy of bigotry and injustice. And, we shall overcome.”

Johnson ended his speech by invoking the civil rights movement’s favorite freedom song, its anthem and its most compelling theme: “Their cause must be our cause too. Because it is not just Negroes, but really all of us who must overcome the crippling legacy of bigotry and injustice. And, we shall overcome.”

Johnson ended his speech by invoking the civil rights movement’s favorite freedom song, its anthem and its most compelling theme: “Their cause must be our cause too. Because it is not just Negroes, but really all of us who must overcome the crippling legacy of bigotry and injustice. And, we shall overcome.”

Johnson ended his speech by invoking the civil rights movement’s favorite freedom song, its anthem and its most compelling theme: “Their cause must be our cause too. Because it is not just Negroes, but really all of us who must overcome the crippling legacy of bigotry and injustice. And, we shall overcome.”

Johnson ended his speech by invoking the civil rights movement’s favorite freedom song, its anthem and its most compelling theme: “Their cause must be our cause too. Because it is not just Negroes, but really all of us who must overcome the crippling legacy of bigotry and injustice. And, we shall overcome.”

“It was a victory like no other. It was an affirmation of the movement,” Vivian concluded.