Let the Children March

LET THE CHILDREN MARCH tells the story of the 1963 Brimingham Children's Crusade, narrated by a ficitonal young girl who volunteers for it. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. organizes a peaceful march for May 2 to protest segregationist Jim Crow laws, and kids volunteer to march to avoid the risk of their parents losing their jobs if they did. "By the end of the day, 973 young marchers were jailed." The next day more protesters, mostly children, are arrested -- close to 1,000 people -- and police use high-pressure water hoses to control the crowds. The third day they use water and and police dogs, and our narrator is thrown into a police wagon and sent to jail. Kids and adults continue to protest through March 9. "The water hoses they used to sting us/ could not stop our fierce tide." Thousands of young people are imprisoned. "But we had been heard, and the seeds of revolution were sown!" On May 10, "Dr. King had reached an agreement with the white leaders of the city. Desegregation would begin." The girl and her brother are reunited with their parents, and a month later are playing on a playground they'd never been allow to play on before. Two months later, the family eats at a diner they'd never been allowed to eat in before. "Our march made a difference. We children led the way."