David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants

knew that if the campaign was perceived
to be faltering, the news media could
lose interest and go elsewhere.
“As a general principle, Walker
asserted that everything must build,”
Taylor Branch writes. “If they showed
strength, then outside support would
grow more than proportionately. Once
started, however, they could not fall
back....In no case, said Walker, could
the Birmingham campaign be smaller
than Albany. That meant they must be
prepared to put upwards of a thousand
people in jail at one time, maybe more.”
Several weeks in, Walker saw his
campaign begin to lose that precious
momentum. Many blacks in Birmingham
were worried—justifiably—that if they