What is the summary of chapter 5 in Jimmie Lee and James: Two Lives, Two Deaths, and the Movement That Changed America?

Chapter 5 starts to tell the story of James Reeb, the thirty-eight-year-old white Unitarian minister from Boston. At the beginning of chapter 5, Reeb is palpably upset over the violence in Alabama. He contemplates traveling South. His wife tries to talk him out of it, but Reeb isn’t dissuaded. “I want to be part of it,” he says. “Every man who can go is needed.”

Steve Fiffer and Adar Cohen, the authors of Jimmie Lee & James, then go back in time and explain Reeb’s background. He was born in Kansas and joined the army after high school. A spiritual person, Reeb dabbled in Lutheranism and Presbyterianism. Finding theology “tedious,” he became the Presbyterian chaplain at Philadelphia General Hospital.

Unable to quell his doubts about Presbyterianism, Reeb grew interested in Unitarianism. He started focusing on the injustices facing Black People. Landing a job at the Boston branch of the social justice organization American Friends Service Committee, Reeb continued to focus on racial inequality.

Moving back to the present, Fiffer and Cohen tell how “clergy of all faiths” head to Alabama, including a rabbi. They note the contributions of women activists, the pressures facing Martin Luther King Jr., and how media outlets from around the world portray the violence in the South. The Soviet Union labels Selma a “bloody pogrom.” To prevent further violence, a compromise is reached. After marching to Edmund Pettus Bridge, King, much to the bewilderment of the other activists, leads them back to Brown Chapel. The chapter ends with Reeb and others hanging out peacefully at Walker’s Café.

Summarize chapter 8 of Jimmie Lee and James: Two Lives, Two Deaths, and the Movement that Changed America.

Chapter 8 of Jimmie Lee and James centers on the march to Montgomery and what happens once they arrive.

The chapter begins with Judge Johnson allowing the march and Governor Wallace calling on President Johnson to make sure the march unfolds peacefully. The march is supposed to start at ten in the morning, but Martin Luther King Jr. is an hour late. Steve Fiffer and Adar Cohen show how King separates himself from the marchers. The conditions are harsh. It’s cold, rainy, and the accommodations are far from nice. King doesn’t stay in the uncomfortable campgrounds. During the second night, King flies to Cleveland to receive an award.

The marchers and King are greeted with a mix of support and opprobrium. A billboard accuses King of communist sympathies. Once they arrive in Montgomery, King addresses some of the criticisms. Leaving Montgomery and letting life return to normal is not in the best interest of people since that would mean accepting racism, inequality, and violence.

Violence occurs when members of the KKK shoot and kill an activist named Viola Liuzzo. She’s a white woman with a husband and five children. One of the lawyers for the killers is also a member of the KKK. He claims that Liuzzo was having an affair with a Black activist. The chapter ends with the conclusion of the trial. The trial is deemed a mistrial.