ABSTRACT
They were two of the most segregated cities of the Old South: Albany in southwest Georgia, Birmingham in northern Alabama, both bastions of white racial hatred. They also witnessed two of the most important resistance struggles of the civil rights era. The movement in Birmingham scored a historic victory, forcing the desegregation of downtown stores and exerting influence through the Kennedy administration that transformed the national debate on race. One of the crucial elements in the success of the Birmingham campaign was the movement's effective use of the media. A major purpose of the campaign was to portray the ugliness of racial segregation before the court of public opinion. The way in which violence and destruction can damage a successful protest is illustrated in the global justice movement that surfaced in Seattle in 1999 and that emerged as a powerful presence at subsequent gatherings of world leaders and international institutions.
