Richard Michelson - As Good as Anybody

THIS IS A BORZOI BOOK PUBLISHED BY ALFRED A. KNOPF
Text copyright 2008 by Richard Michelson
Illustrations copyright 2008 by Raul Coln
All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Alfred A. Knopf, an imprint of Random House Childrens Books, a division of Random House LLC, New York. Knopf, Borzoi Books, and the colophon are registered trademarks of Random House LLC.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Michelson, Richard. As good as anybody / by Richard Michelson ; illustrated by Raul Coln. 1st ed. p.cm.
ISBN 978-0-375-83335-9 (trade) ISBN 978-0-375-93335-6 (lib. bdg.)
1. King, Martin Luther, Jr., 19291968Juvenile literature. 2. Heschel, Abraham Joshua, 19071972Juvenile literature. 3. Civil rights workersUnited StatesBiographyJuvenile literature. 4. African AmericansBiographyJuvenile literature. 5. JewsUnited StatesBiographyJuvenile literature. 6. FriendshipUnited StatesCase studiesJuvenile literature. 7. African AmericansRelations with JewsJuvenile literature. 8. African AmericansCivil rightsHistory20th centuryJuvenile literature. 9. Civil rights movementsUnited StatesHistory20th centuryJuvenile literature. 10. United StatesRace relationsHistory20th centuryJuvenile literature. I. Coln, Ral. II. Title. E185.97.K5M44 2008 323.092dc22 2007042279
eBook ISBN: 978-0-385-75388-3
The illustrations in this book were created using colored pencil and watercolor.
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v3.1

For anybody and everybody marching for social justice, and for Jenniferwalking the walk.

R.M.

For David,

long-distance Starship Trooper.

R.C.

M artin was mad at everyone.

It was hot in Georgia and Martin wanted to swim in the pool, but the sign said WHITES ONLY.

Martin was thirsty, but the sign said WHITES ONLY.

Martin needed to pee. WHITES ONLY.

He marched to his fathers church and stomped his feet.

What good is stepping on bugs? Daddy King said. Youre looking down when you should be looking up.

Martins father had an answer for everything, and that made Martin proud. Daddy King was a preacher, and every Sunday it seemed half of Atlanta crowded into the Ebenezer Baptist Church.

The way things are, his father preached, is not the way they always have to be. In the next world, people of all colors will live together and respect each other.

Martin didnt want to wait for the next world, but he couldnt stay angry.

Martin raced to catch the bus. He was lucky to find the last empty seat. Stand up, boy, the driver ordered as a white child rushed on. The joy drained out of Martins face.

He wished he had walked all the way home.

Martins mother closed her eyes and turned her head from side to side like she was reading a book she knew by heart. Some ignorant white people think they are better than colored people, she said, hugging Martin close. But dont you ever forget that you are just as good as anybody!

Martin grew up and became a minister like his dad. The way things are, he told his congregation, is not the way they always have to be. Dont ever forget that you are just as good as anybody!

Word spread about Martins sermons. Some Sundays it seemed that half of Montgomery, Alabama, crowded into his little church. But sometimes Martin still got angry.

That winter a colored woman refused to stand and move to the back of the bus so that a white man could sit down. She was arrested and sent to jail.

The time has come for action, Martin told his congregation. Dont ride the buses until we can sit wherever we please.

Some people had to start walking in the middle of the night to get to work on time. Martin marched with them to give them courage. The bus drivers laughed. This wont last long, one said, honking at an old lady with a cane.

My feet is tired, she called out after him, but my soul is rested.

One whole year passed. The bus drivers stopped laughing. They were losing money and now they were angry.

Finally, the United States Supreme Court changed the law.

Now Martin was able to sit up front.

But as the bus traveled through the city park, he saw a familiar sign: WHITES ONLY.

For ten years, Martin marched all over the country, speaking out for equal rights.

The Ku Klux Klan and other hate groups jeered and spat at him, but he kept marching.

Mayors and governors and judges tried to stop him from helping Negroes to vote, but he kept marching.

Sometimes Martin was discouraged, but he kept marching.