On April 19, 1960, civil rights attorney Z. Alexander Looby’s Nashville home was destroyed by a dynamite bomb in retaliation for his legal defense of 153 students arrested in peaceful sit-in demonstrations. Though Looby and his wife survived unharmed, the attack marked a chilling escalation in violent resistance to the growing civil rights movement. That same day, over 2,000 outraged students—led by young activists including John Lewis and Diane Nash—marched silently to Nashville’s City Hall. When confronted, Mayor Ben West admitted that racial discrimination was morally wrong, paving the way for desegregation of Nashville’s lunch counters. The bombing and protest became a pivotal moment in the Southern student-led resistance.
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