The Children's March

Birmingham, Alabama was the most racist city in the 1960's.  The racism evident in every day life.  The most shocking part of the video that I realized was that members of the KKK were actually on the police force.  Those who were in charge of fighting crime and protecting citizens, openly hated Aftican-Americans and thought they were inferior to whites. "Birmingham, to be perfectly honest, was a grim place through the eyes of African Americans" - Myrna Carter Jackson of the NAACP stated.

Fun Fact: Fire department, police department and the KKK were all defeated by the children. 

Another interesting statistic was that in 1963 in Birmingham, there was a reported 60 unsolved bombings.  How many arrests had been made you ask? OH... ZERO.  The Ku Klux Klan population inhibited the entire city, it's honestly frightening.  People in power with those sort of views were very dangerous.

Here we see a picture of  Martin Luther King Jr. went to jail standing up for something he believed in.  I admire Martin Luther King Jr. for his role in the equal rights movement.  His belief in non-violence and peaceful protests is admirable.  He was such a strong individual who wants an equal country for those citizens who did nothing, aside from look different from white people. 

The Children's March allowed for this group of young activists to feel empowered.  They were signaled through the radio songs, jumped out of classroom windows across Birmingham and met at the Sixteen street baptist church.  Someone described it as one giant pep rally, it gave them a sense of togetherness.

"A lot of people were worried that the kids were gonna get hurt.  But the reality of it was that we were black and born in Alabama so we were gonna get hurt regardless" stated a woman from the video. The reality of the situation is that due to their race and where they live, they were treated unfairly and were discriminated against.  Many people back then were openly racist towards African Americans in a violent way.  At least during the Children's March they were able to convey a message in a non-violent way to show how united they were.

John F. Kennedy was an advocate for equal rights as well.  He did state "I call upon all the citizens of Birmingham, negro and white, to realize that violence only breeds more violence" because he knew what would ensue.  JFK was the president who stated that segregation was over .  This was a huge part of the equal rights movement.   When Bull Conner left his office, it was another win for African Americans in Birmingham. It's unfortunate that racism still occurs today.  I realize KKK members still exist and people are out there with the same ignorant views that they had back in the day.  However, I hope that we as a country can come together and work to achieve a United Nation where black and white are just colors and not a reason to have a preconceived judgments about anyone.  On that note ... Try your best not to cry...  at this video.  Just goes to show that once you get to know someone, the color of their skin is irrelevant.