The Movement Continues

The Movement Continues. March Route for Moral Justice. The Christmas night bombing by White terrorists was intended to kill Rev. Shuttlesworth, or at the very least, to scare him into leaving town and his new organization. A police officer who came to the bornbed house and church told Rev. Shuttlesworth, "If I were you l'd get out of town as quick as I could.” But the pastor told him to tell his fellow Ku Klux Klansmen he was not leaving because “I wasn't saved to run." Rather than instilling fear, the bombing of Bethel Baptist and its parsonage inspired many Black citizens to follow Rev. Shuttlesworth's leadership. The next day, the minister, ACMHR members and other Black citizens went to the city buses intent on breaking the law, as originally planned. , Paired marker , December 26, 1956 , As many as 250 Black citizens boarded city buses and rode in the "Whites-only" sections, in violation of Birmingham's segregation laws. The majority rode without incident, but at least 22 people were arrested, including Rev. Shuttlesworth. He was arrested later in the day for driving without a license and improper vehicle documentation. According to the New York Times, 400 people gathered and voted to continue the drive to integrate the buses. Instead, Rev. Shuttlesworth urged the ACMHR to file a lawsuit and to cease testing the buses until the courts made a ruling. Because of the bombing and his continued civil disobedience, Rev. Shuttlesworth began to receive national media attention., "The church was 100 percent behind him. They knew he was doing the right thing.", Rev. Thomas L. Wilder, Jr. , Bethel Baptist's pastor since 1988, about Rey. Fred L Shuttlesworth during the Birmingham Movement., Lesson 77: Why did the 1956 bombing at Bethel Baptist motivate more Black citizens to break unjust laws?