Photo: ANDRI TAMBUNAN / AFP / Getty Images
On May 2, 1963, at Birmingham, Alabama, more than 1.000 Black school children marched through the city in an anti-segregation rally. The goal of the nonviolent demonstration, which became known as the “Children’s Crusade” and the “Children’s March,” was to provoke civic and business leaders in the city agree to desegregate.
Martin Luther King Jr., one of the civil rights leaders who organized the protest, said: “We are definitely starting an intensified campaign to put our grievances before the conscience of the community.”
James Bevel, member of SCLC, came up with the idea to include school children in protests to help desegregate Birmingham.
The strategy was to recruit popular teens from black high schools, such as quarterbacks and cheerleaders, who could influence their classmates to attend meetings with them at black churches in Birmingham to learn about the nonviolent movement. There was also an economic reason for children to participate, as adults risked being fired from their jobs for missing work and protesting.
More than 1, students skipped school to participate in the protest. Young people, between 7 and 18 years, carried banners and marched in groups of 10 a 50, singing songs of freedom .
The police arrested nearly 552 protesters, including a 6-year-old girl years, mostly for parading without permission. Teachers shouted encouragement to students singing hymns as police made arrests. School buses took those arrested to jail.
“Several thousand curious black and white people watched from behind and hastily set up police lines” the Associated Press reported. “Firefighters set up high-pressure hoses in a two-block area when a large group of Black people stormed downtown. The hoses were not put into play”.
The next day, the children marched again. But the Birmingham police response sparked a national outrage, on orders from Police Chief “Bull” Conner, law enforcement officers sprayed peaceful protesters with water hoses and released the barking dogs.
In Washington, United States Attorney General Robert Kennedy, said that “the continued refusal to grant equal rights and opportunities to blacks makes growing unrest inevitable.”
After meeting with civil rights leaders, Birmingham leaders finally agreed to desegregate businesses and free all those jailed during the demonstrations.
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