May 3, 1963 - The anti-segregation demonstrators in Birmingham, Alabama today appeared to be older than those who marched yesterday — mostly high school and college students. All the demonstrations, which were broken up by the authorities with fire hoses and police dogs, were held between 1 and 3 p.m. They followed by less than three hours a declaration made by the two principal leaders of the direct-action campaign against segregation in Birmingham. The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (left) and the Rev. Fred L. Shuttlesworth (right) told a news conference that they had no intention of relaxing the pressure without action. “We are ready to negotiate,” said Dr. King. “But we intend to negotiate from strength. If the white power structure of this city will meet some of our minimum demands, then we will consider calling off the demonstrations. But we want promises — plus action.” Both men said there was no shortage of recruits from among the Negro community of 140,000 persons in Birmingham. If there ever was any division within the community over the timing of the campaign, it has now disappeared, they declared.
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