Children's Crusade (1963)
The Children's Crusade was a march by hundreds of school students in Birmingham, Alabama, May 2–5, 1963, during the Birmingham campaign. Initiated and organized by Rev. James Bevel, the purpose of the march was to walk downtown to talk to the mayor about segregation in their city. Many children left their schools and were arrested, set free, and then arrested again the next day. The marches were stopped by the head of police, Bull Connor, who brought fire hoses to ward off the children, and set police dogs after the children. This event compelled President John F. Kennedy to publicly support federal civil rights legislation, and eventually led to the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Malcolm X was opposed to the event because he thought it would expose the children to violence. He said: "Real men don't put their children on the firing line".[1]
References
- Manis, Andrew M. (29 October 2001). A Fire You Can't Put Out: The Civil Rights Life of Birmingham's Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth. Google Books: University of Alabama Press. p. 370. ISBN 978-0817311568.
Further reading
Reading
- Clayborne Carson, ed., The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr., (New York, NY: Warner Books, Inc., 1998)
- Hunter-Gault, Charlayne (May 2, 2013). "Fifty Years After the Birmingham Children's Crusade". The New Yorker.
- M. S. Handler, "Malcolm X Terms Dr. King’s Tactics Futile," New York Times, May 11, 1963
- Folk music
- Phil Ochs, song, Talking Birmingham Jam, performed at the Newport Folk Festival, July 26–28, 1963, released on Newport Broadside, 1964 and Live at Newport, 1966
- Children's Crusade in the King Encyclopedia
- The Birmingham Campaign – Civil Rights Movement Veterans
Documentary
- Mighty Times: The Children's March
- American Heroes Channel: "What History Forgot" Season 2, Episode 5