Birmingham-area students reenact Children’s March 61 years later
By Ayron Lewallen
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BIRMINGHAM (WVTM) — Sixty-one years after the Children’s Crusade, more than 700 students from across Birmingham came to the historic Civil Rights District to participate in a reenactment of the march.
In the early 1960s, many adults risked losing their jobs if they stood on the frontlines of freedom. So in the spring of 1963, Civil Rights leaders turned to children.
Also known as the Children’s March, the demonstration happened on May 2, 1963. More than 1,000 Black students from across Birmingham marched in Kelly Ingram Park in a peaceful, non-violent protest. Those students skipped class and braved attack dogs, being hosed down and even being thrown in jail — some for multiple days.
The seventh annual Children’s Crusade reenactment sponsored by the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute kicked off with an empowerment ceremony, getting the students fired up and ready to go.
The program was full of speakers, including high school poets, city leaders, original Foot Soldiers and a representative from the U.S. Department of Justice. Staff at the B.C.R.I. wanted to make sure the next generation of leaders is ready to fight for change.
“Sometimes there’s a little blend of flavor they can understand and appreciate as well as that which they need, kind of like an elixir,” said Birmingham Civil Rights Institute Vice President of Education Dr. Samantha Elliott Briggs. “My hope is that they felt the energy, they felt the fun and that allowed them to be open to the truth, to the history and to feel that they have the capacity to do just as those young people did 61 years ago today.”
Students from across the Birmingham area, like Phillips Academy sixth-grade students Dakota Pruitt and Brayden Taylor and Carver High sophomore Aaliyah Rice, participated in the march.
The historic event also drew students from Washington, D.C., and even as far as Berkley, California. Watch their stories in the video embedded above.
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