Shutting Down Downtown

Shutting Down Downtown. March Route to Retail. The mass demonstrations of “Project C” forced White Birmingham's elite business leaders and downtown merchants back to the bargaining table in May 1963. Once again, leaders of Black Birmingham's power structure presented a list of demands in their "Points for Progress." Among them were: the hiring of Black sales clerks and police officers; school desegregation; the reopening of all city parks; the removal of all segregation signs; and the full integration of lunch counters, department stores, bus stations and other public facilities., Paired marker , May 7, 1963 , Instead of simply sending protestors into the waiting hands of police, “Project C” leaders tell marchers to fan out across the city and then regroup in the downtown retail district at noon. In this picture, about 3,000 child and adult protestors crowd into the district. They spill over into nearby streets, including this intersection at 19th Street and 3rd Avenue North. Police and firefighters are overwhelmed and cannot stop the marchers. Some demonstrators pray, while others invade the lunch counters and retail stores. Most crowd the streets, blocking traffic and scaring away White shoppers. This army of non-violent protestors brings Birmingham's retail district to a standstill. , "Power concedes nothing without a demand." , Frederick Douglass , Famous abolitionist, speaker and editor, Lesson 20: Discuss the pros and cons of mass protest in society.