Fred D. Gray

Children of the Struggle and the Ancestors Who Stayed is a moving and unforgettable account of the experiences of the Tuskegee Institute High School graduating class of 9 4, who witnessed many of the pivotal events of the Civil Rights Movement, such as the murder of Sammy Younge Jr., the March from Selma to Montgomery, and Bloody Sunday.

"A story for the ages." --New York Times The defense lawyer for Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, the Selma marchers and other civil rights heroes reveals the true story of the historic trial that made Dr. King a national hero. Fred D. Gray was one of only two Black lawyers in Montgomery, Alabama, when Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a segregated bus. The ensuing Montgomery bus boycott led Gray to become Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s defense lawyer and later, chief counsel for the protest movement. This trial--with eighty-nine indictments for violating the state's anti-boycott statute--was not going to be just any trial. It would be an attempt to launch a movement in a city fighting to preserve segregation. With Gray's memories of the extraordinary events, as well as the transcribed words of King's vivid courtroom testimony, this book transports readers to the trial that sparked the Civil Rights Movement and introduced Martin Luther King Jr. to the world. "Poignant, sometimes harrowing." --Wall Street Journal

"Poignant, sometimes harrowing." -Wall Street JournalThe defense lawyer for Martin Luther King, Jr., Rosa Parks, the Selma marchers, and other civil rights heroes reveals the true story of the historic trial that made Dr. King a national hero. Fred D. Gray was just twenty-four years old when he became the defense lawyer for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., a young minister who had become the face of the bus boycott that had rocked the city of in Montgomery, Alabama. In this incredible history, Gray takes us behind the scenes of that landmark case, including such unforgettable moments as: *Martin Luther King's courageous response to a bomb threat on his own home*Poignant, searing testimony that exposed the South's racist systems to an worldwide audience*The conspiracy to destroy Gray's career and draft him into the Vietnam War*The unforgettable moment when a Supreme Court ruling brought the courtroom to a halt Alabama v. King captures a pivotal moment in the fight for equality, from the eyes of the lawyer who Dr. King called "the brilliant young leader who later became the chief counsel for the protest movement."