Chapter 16, The Fireman's Last Reprieve, Summary and Analysis

King and Abernathy's arrests in Albany were highly publicized. Anderson called a meeting of Albany Movement supporters at a local church and announced it was now or never in the desegregation movement. The congregation marched out of the church to the local jail. Word quickly spread to Washington, where Marshall was assigned the task of speaking with the Albany officials as well as Coretta. Kennedy did not want to get publicly involved with the situation, but did agree to send a man to Albany to deal with it in person. That night there was another mass meeting. A police presence could be seen throughout the Negro part of town, and outraged citizens began throwing things at the police cars. The police commissioner went to the church and asked that everyone remain nonviolent. Also...