03-15-2018, 10:46 PM
From 1957 through 1963 there were 21 bombings of black owned properties or black run businesses in Birmingham Alabama. These repeated acts of violence eventually fueled protests and children were on the forefront.
In spring of 1963 Dr Martin Luther King organized a series of protests in Birmingham. There were some small demonstrations in front of certain segregated businesses but the final and largest phase was the "childrens march" or "Childrens Crusade". Adults would lose jobs and suffer severe fines if they were arrested. So the plan was to fill the Birmingham jails with children in order to draw national attention to their plight. On May 2 children all over the city left school and began marching from the 16th Street Baptist Church to City Hall to speak to the Mayor. By the end of the day 959 children, some as young as six years old were arrested. Over the course of the protest hundreds more would be arrested and spend up to a week in jail
The second day of the Crusade was a watershed moment in the Civil Rights Movement. That was the day Birmingham Sheriff Bull Conner used high pressured water hoses and attack dogs on children. Photos of children getting attacked by dogs and having their cloths torn off by fire hoses spread not just across the country, but around the world. The nation was shocked and embarrassed. Dr. Kings movement suddenly had a huge following all over the country. Up to that point President Kennedy had not moved on Civil Rights because the southern states were so strongly Democrat. But with nationwide support for the movement he was forced into action. In June he gave a speech outlining the proposed Civil rights legislation. By July of the next year the Civil rights Act was passed into law.
Children protesting is nothing new.
In spring of 1963 Dr Martin Luther King organized a series of protests in Birmingham. There were some small demonstrations in front of certain segregated businesses but the final and largest phase was the "childrens march" or "Childrens Crusade". Adults would lose jobs and suffer severe fines if they were arrested. So the plan was to fill the Birmingham jails with children in order to draw national attention to their plight. On May 2 children all over the city left school and began marching from the 16th Street Baptist Church to City Hall to speak to the Mayor. By the end of the day 959 children, some as young as six years old were arrested. Over the course of the protest hundreds more would be arrested and spend up to a week in jail
The second day of the Crusade was a watershed moment in the Civil Rights Movement. That was the day Birmingham Sheriff Bull Conner used high pressured water hoses and attack dogs on children. Photos of children getting attacked by dogs and having their cloths torn off by fire hoses spread not just across the country, but around the world. The nation was shocked and embarrassed. Dr. Kings movement suddenly had a huge following all over the country. Up to that point President Kennedy had not moved on Civil Rights because the southern states were so strongly Democrat. But with nationwide support for the movement he was forced into action. In June he gave a speech outlining the proposed Civil rights legislation. By July of the next year the Civil rights Act was passed into law.
Children protesting is nothing new.
