1. Letter from a Birmingham Jail

2. 1960’s Birmingham, Alabama
Birmingham AL was a severely segregated city in the south.
60% White, 40% Black
Birmingham had no black police officers, firefighters, sales clerks in department stores, bus drivers, bank tellers, or store cashiers.
Black secretaries could not work for white professionals.
The unemployment rate was 2.5 times higher for blacks than whites.

3. Bull Connor Commissioner of Public Safety in Birmingham
Called an “arch-segregationist” by Time magazine
Swore there would be no desegregation in Birmingham
Failed to call in police to break up a mob assaulting Freedom Riders in 1961
Used the fire department to break up civil rights meetings for “fire hazards”
Was successful in unifying parts of the movement against him.

4. The Plan
The SCLC and the NAACP planned a series of protests designed to hit Birmingham’s economic centers
Sit ins at lunch counters
Boycott of white businesses
Kneel-ins at “white” churches
King and the SCLC planned a protest against Connors laws limiting protesting
King is arrested.
His 13th arrest