Donald moved to Mobile, Alabama, with her family, where she became pregnant in tenth grade and was forced to leave school and work in a hotel.

Beulah initially moved with him but returned to Mobile after several years to care for her parents.

[3][4] On March 21, 1981, Beulah's youngest child, Michael Donald, was lynched by members of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK);[5][6][7]: 232  he was beaten and choked, had his throat slit, and was hanged from a tree.

While some authorities initially argued that his killing was not connected to the KKK and may have instead been motivated by a drug deal or affair, Donald disagreed and set out to clear Michael's name.

[3] After the lynching, Donald was approached by a lawyer working for the Southern Poverty Law Center, Morris Dees, who suggested suing the KKK.

"[9] Donald's attorney, Michael Figures, said that she represented "the rock on which all of this was ultimately built".