{"version":1,"type":"rich","provider_name":"Libsyn","provider_url":"https:\/\/www.libsyn.com","height":90,"width":600,"title":"Students in the Civil Rights Movement","description":"Do you recognize the names of Emmett Till, Melba Patillo, Gloria Ray, David Richmond or Ruby Bridges?   Perhaps you recognize some but not others. Perhaps none.   That\u2019s okay. They weren\u2019t seeking fame or fortune. They just wanted to get an education, vote or just eat at a cafeteria lunch counter. You might not know their names but they made a difference for all of us. In this podcast show, you\u2019re gonna here EXACTLY what they did.   Hi, I\u2019m Robin Lofton, the Chief In-house Historian and host of this great and groundbreaking show that can inspire YOU and your FAMILY with true stories, real experiences, practical lessons, cultural traditions, and fun celebrations\u2014all inspired by African American history. I find history to BE inspirational, instructional and entertaining. And African American history fits the bill in all of these ways. Personally, I hate boring stuff. So boring stuff is not allowed at rememberinghistory.com or at this Wiki history podcast show.   This was planned as the third and final podcast in our series on civil rights and the civil rights movement. But the rememberinghistory.com team decided that a change was necessary: This show about student activists has been divided into TWO parts. Why? Because this is a FASCINATING topic (you\u2019re gonna here some great stores) and we wanted to make it practical too. So we\u2019ve added a section on ways that young people and students TODAY can also help to make changes and have an impact in their communities, the country and world. So, that\u2019s what we\u2019ll discuss in part II of the series.   In the previous podcast shows, we discussed lessons we can STILL learn from Martin Luther King. If you haven\u2019t heard that show, I really encourage you to do so because there were great lessons\u2014yes, we can still learn from Dr. King and it stirred up a lot of interesting discussion. Spoiler alert: The first lesson was called \u201cbe maladjusted.\u201d People really had a lot to say about that and I\u2019m sure that you will too. The other podcast show was about voting rights in America. Yes, there is still a lot of discrimination in voting\u2014in deciding how districts will be formed, in the voter registration process, even directly at the polling stations. And we presented specific and doable ways to fight discrimination in voting. The types of voter discrimination actions were shocking but it was also an empowering show. So be sure to listen so that you are ready to fight for your right to vote. And, of course, we made great animated videos to summarize the issues and entertain you as well. You can find them at rememberinghistory.com and on our YouTube channel. Remember, we don\u2019t \u201cdo boring\u201d here so prepare to be entertained AND learn a little something useful.   Today\u2019s show refocuses on the people in history: a very special group of people who participated\u2014and gave special momentum\u2014to the civil rights movement. Young people and students. I planned to focus on college students. Yes, they did a lot. But as I thought about it more, I remembered that high school students and even elementary school students played an important part in the movement. So, we gonna include them in this discussion too. You see, even a CHIEF inhouse historian can change her mind and learn something new.   This is a particularly important show. Often, young people feel they can\u2019t make a difference that they can\u2019t have an impact and that decisions are being made only by the adults. This show will prove that this is simply not true. And I hope that it will convince young people and students that they do have a voice and an important role to play in protecting civil rights or in any cause that they\u2019re passionate about. That\u2019s important to remember. While these shows focus on civil rights, there are many causes that need and deserve attention and action. But protecting civil rights is an urgent focus right now\u2014perhaps now more than in any time since the civil rights movement of the 1960s. And this show will suggest some ways in which they can get involved in protecting the civil rights\u2014of people of color, of the economically disadvantaged, of refugees and immigrants and frankly of any group under attack or suffering injustice. Remember those famous words of Dr. Martin Luther King: \u201cInjustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.\u201d   Well, let\u2019s get to the show, \u201cThe Youth and Students in the Civil Rights Movement\u201d*           Is it strange of think of young people and students focused, committing and working for civil rights? If you find it hard to imagine that children were brave enough, that high school students were focused enough and that college students were concerned enough to work together for civil rights, then it\u2019s time to grab a chair and get comfortable. Perhaps even grab your kids to listen with you. This is history at its finest! This is the story of young people from elementary school\u2014the youngest was only 7 years old!\u2014through the college who showed commitment and courage under fire. And the \u201cfires\u201d that they faced were real and deadly\u2014beatings, dog attacks, imprisonment, threats, and yes murder as well. Yet these young people stood up for their rights to equality and justice\u2014and they stood up for your rights too. In one youth-led movement in 1963, Martin Luther King told the students who had been jailed (in Birmingham, Alabama) : \u201cWhat you do this day will impact children who have not yet been born.\u201d Wow. Sooo true. And these kids DID forge a path for us. Stay tuned\u2014remember in Part II, we will present ways that young people can continue to be involved in social activism and have an impact on kids that are not yet born.   *[Applause break here]   Many of the young people involved in the Civil Rights Movement actively joined and participated in the meetings, marches, demonstrations and other nonviolent activities to draw attention to their cause. Others became involuntary victims of the racist and oppressive culture of segregation. However, both groups\u2014whether actively participating or involuntarily drawn in-- made an invaluable contribution to the cause.                         We are gonna begin today\u2019s journey by discussing a name whom I hope is familiar. Very familiar. Sadly familiar. But don\u2019t worry if it\u2019s not because we\u2019re learning here together. The name: Emmett Till.   Personally, I don\u2019t remember the first time that I heard the name of Emmett Till. I must have been too young. But he was a name that was always deeply embedded in me\u2014not the details of his horrific claim to fame. But the feeling his fate stirred up: sadness, anger, disbelief, fear. I\u2019m sure that all of these feelings came from my parents and I picked them up as an impressionable child. But his name is a part of my life story. Why? Because ALL Black children could have been young Emmett. Actually, I know that there were other Emmetts but HIS terrible experience changed everything. I\u2019m jumping ahead of myself. Let\u2019s hear the story.   In the summer of 1955, Emmett was just like any other 14-year old Black kid. Just finished the 7th grade at his Chicago school. High-spirited. Fun-loving. Growing into manhood. Polite. Looking forward to a great summer. Adored by his mother. Emmett was especially excited because he would spend the summer with his cousins in Mississippi. Emmett had never visited the segregated south so his mother counseled him about how to behave around white people.   The rest of the story has become a sad legend. Emmett enjoyed his first few days in Tallahatchie County, Mississippi. Worked in the cotton fields during the day and played with his cousins in the evening. On his third day there, he went to a grocery store with his cousins and that\u2019s when the trouble started. There is no clear account of what happened but Emmett might have whistled at the wife (who was white) who owned the store. A few nights later, her husband and brother-in-law went to house of Emmett\u2019s uncle in the dead of night mind you, snatched Emmett out of bed and drove off with him into the night. Three days later, Emmett\u2019s horribly mutilated body was discovered in a river. I won\u2019t go into details, but young Emmett had been tortured, beaten and shot in the head. Witnesses recounted hearing a young boy screaming and calling for help from a barn. He was mutilated beyond recognition.         His grieving but brave mother firmly decided on an open casket at his funeral in Chicago. Thousands of mourners filed past the casket. Jet Magazine and several other Black publications printed the graphic photos of Emmett\u2019s body. I have seen the horrific almost gruesome pictures and I will never forget them. Several of older friends actually went to Emmett\u2019s funeral and viewed his body. I can see the pain and sadness still in their eyes\u2014from 1955.   The murderers of Emmett Till were quickly tried and acquitted. I think that it took only an hour. Is that scenario familiar today? One of the killers even gave an interview to LOOK Magazine detailing how they killed Emmett.   Many people say that the murder of Emmett Till sparked the modern Civil Rights Movement. It brought light to the brutality and regularity of lynching in the south, the effects of segregation and the vulnerability of Black lives. Emmett Till could have been any Black man, woman or child in the Jim Crow south. African Americans demanded justice for Emmett. And young Black children and students were especially outraged and fearful because Emmett was only 14 years old so they connected with this movement perhaps feeling that their lives hung in the balance. The Civil Rights Movement was on\u2014and young people were a committed and focused part of it. Emmett was not a voluntary student-activist but his name will be remembered as someone who started a movement.   The first real student-involved movement (that we\u2019ll discuss) took place in 1957, just two years after the lynching of Emmett Till.   It involved 9 brave African Americans kids attempting to attend a white high school in Little Rock, Arkansas. These kids became known as the Little Rock Nine. Let\u2019s back up just a bit to 1954.   The United States was in chaos. (More was to come, of course, but most people didn\u2019t know that.) Interesting thing about history\u2014it\u2019s not the story of people living in the present. It\u2019s the story of people living in the present, THEIR present. So, in 1954, many people didn\u2019t know or didn\u2019t accept that change prompted by the civil rights movement was looming in their future. Hmm\u2026gotta think about that one. Anyway, in 1954, the landmark case of Brown v. Board of Education had just been decided by the Supreme Court. The decision that desegregated public schools.   Remember that\u2019s where we got the \u201cseparate but equal is inherently unequal\u201d quote and that THIS violated the 14th Amendment. So, segregated schools were declared illegal and ordered to integrate \u201cwith all deliberate speed.\u201d (another great quote). But many school districts especially in the southern states refused to accept this decision. They fought back. Some just ignored the decision and dared the federal government to try to enforce it. Others closed down schools rather than integrate them. Let\u2019s jump from the immediate aftermath of the Brown case back to the summer of 1957, Little Rock Arkansas.   The NAACP (Arkansas Branch) was determined to integrate the high schools, beginning in Little Rock, the state\u2019s capital. Daisy Bates, president of the Arkansas Branch of the NAACP recruited nine high school students whom she believed possessed the strength and determination to face the RESISTANCE to integration. During that summer, the students participated in intensive counseling sessions on what to expect and how to respond to the reaction from the white community--students AND parents.   Just before school opened in September, Arkansas Governor Oval Faubus ordered the National Guard to bar the African American students from entering the state\u2019s schools. He claimed that it was for \u201ctheir own protection\u201d (quote. Don\u2019t we hear that one a lot today?) The next day, a federal court judge issued a counter-ruling that desegregation would proceed.   As the nine Black students attempted to enter the school, a huge crowd of angry white students and adults as well as the Arkansas National Guard (ordered by the Governor) barred the students\u2019 from entering. White protesters threatened the students, screamed racial slurs and spit on them. They were not able to enter the school that day.   Days later, the students tried to enter the school again with a police escort. However, more than a thousand white protesters appeared and again blocked the students\u2019 from entering the building. President Eisenhower finally sent federal troops to enforce the integration order. Army troops actually had to escort the students to their first day of class.       But that wasn\u2019t the end of the story. Protests against integration continued. The 101st Airborne Division stayed at the school to protect the students for an entire year. The nine kids faced verbal and physical abuse. One student had acid thrown in her face. Another was pushed down the stairs. The threats were constant and real. Both teachers AND students were hostile. But the kids survived and even thrived at their high school. All graduated and held distinguished careers. However, they only stayed at Little Rock Central High School for a year. The school board voted by 3 to 1 to close the school rather than officially integrate (of course, they cited budget cuts as the reason for the school closure.) But the brave high school students had stood up for their rights in a hostile and dangerous situation. Just imagine having to be escorted to school by federal guards. Imagine parents shouting ugly remarks at you. Imagine being spat upon, pushed around or down stairs, ignored by teachers and facing a large hostile crowd in the school cafeteria. This was definitely courage under fire and these kids deserve to be recognized and respected for their great achievement. And I want to say their names because they should become a familiar part of African American history:   Elizabeth Eckford Ernest Green Thelma Mothershed Melba Patillo Minnijean Brown Gloria Ray Terrence Roberts Jefferson Thomas Carlotta Walls   [Break for applause.]   By the way, during this podcast, you have heard and will continue to hear about people, places, events and issues. You will HEAR about them, but I completely understand if you want to actually SEE them, too. We got that covered on the Wiki History Podcast Page on Facebook. You will find pictures, animated videos and a community of history lovers. There is also a place for comments, which I hope that you will leave for us because we really appreciate them AND we do respond. Of course, we welcome all questions too.   Moving on\u20261960 was a BIG year for student activism. It\u2019s really hard to know where to begin.   But I\u2019ll adopt a \u201cladies first\u201d position here\u2014especially for this little lady named Ruby Bridges.   Ruby wanted to attend William Frantz Elementary School, which was an all-white school based in New Orleans. (I know what you\u2019re thinking: you can\u2019t have an all-white school because the Brown v. Board of Education case declared them illegal. Well, just like in Little Rock, the school boards were NOT going to give up their segregated lifestyle and institutions willingly. So the fight continued.) And little Ruby Bridges wanted to attend this school in her neighborhood school and for which she had passed a rigorous entry test. (This test had ACTUALLY been designed to screen out Black students and had been successful until Ruby.) So, she was excited to attend the kindergarten. Yes, that\u2019s right little Miss Ruby Bridges was seven years old. She had to be escorted to school every day by 4 U.S. Marshals. She spent her first day in the principal\u2019s office and watched as white parents removed their kids from school. A compromise was reached in which white students would return to school and Ruby would be isolated in a classroom on a floor separated from the other students. Only one teacher (Barbara Henry who was from Boston) agreed to teach her. For the remainder of the year, Mrs. Henry and Ruby would sit side-by-side going over lessons in the classroom. At recess, Ruby would stay in the classroom and play games or do calisthenics. At lunch, Ruby would eat alone in the classroom. Outside the school, the parents continued to protest against Ruby. One woman threatened to poison her every day. Another put a black baby doll in a coffin and left it at the school. Ruby said that scared her more than anything! Her father lost his job. Her mother was banned from shopping at the local grocery store.   This behavior seriously affected Ruby\u2014as it would affect any 7-year old child. She began having nightmares. Stopped eating and started to have crying fits. She received counseling and gradually settled into a normal routine with the help of her teacher, Mrs. Henry. By the second year, Ruby started making friends and attending classes with the other students. Ruby attended integrated schools all the way through high school and went on to business school. (Interestingly, Ruby was reunited with Mrs. Henry on the Oprah Winfrey show.) That must have been an emotional reunion! Teachers really do make a difference. But it was Ruby\u2019s strength and determination that helped her to succeed. Still--no one does it alone.   Remember to look for the pictures of Ruby Bridges and Barbara Henry on the Wiki History Podcast page on Face book. I\u2019m really moved by two pictures of 7-year old Ruby marching into school escorted by 4 US Marshals. One is a real-life picture. The second is what has become an iconic portrait made by Norman Rockwell called \u201cThe Problem we all live with.\u201d   We\u2019re still in 1960 and now we have the Greensboro Four and their protest is marked as the beginning of student activism during the civil rights movement.   The group known as the Greensboro four was attending the North Carolina A & T State University. They were dedicated students who were fans of Mahatma Gandhi, believed in nonviolence and spent their evening studying and discussing current events. Like many other young people, they had been and still were deeply affected by the murder of Emmett Till 5 years earlier. They had also been very impressed and moved by the Freedom Rides in the Deep South led by the Congress of Racial Equality (or CORE). They acknowledged some progress but also recognized and refused to be distracted into thinking that this progress was good enough. Most businesses were privately owned and therefore not subject to federal law that banned segregation. They decided to take action.   On February 1, 1960 at 4:30pm, all four students walked into a Woolworth in Greensboro, North Carolina. Wearing their Sunday best, they sat at the whites-only lunch counter and requested service. They were denied. They continued to request service in a polite way but they were continuously denied by store manager. They were told to leave but they refused. Police were called but they didn\u2019t arrest the students because they had not been violent or disorderly. Media arrived. Crowds developed. The students stayed at the lunch counter for the entire day until the store closed. Woolworth issued a statement to the press that it would continue to \u201cabide by local custom\u201d, meaning that it would continue to practice segregation.   The Greensboro Four went back the next day. More students joined the sit-in, this time from the Bennett College, which was an all-women\u2019s college in Greensboro. Each day more students joined the protest\u2014and it spread to other southern cities like Richmond and Nashville. By February 5th, hundreds of students joined in the lunch counter sit-ins. It paralyzed all business at the counter. The student protesters were verbally abused and threatened by white customers. THIS sit-in launched a nationwide movement at segregated lunch counters across the country. It also sparked a movement on college campuses that brought ATTENTION to the civil rights situation in the United States. The sit-in protests in Greensboro and other cities received lots of attention from the media and eventually the government. By the end of the year, many restaurants, lunch counters and privately-owned business had desegregated their facilities without any court action or marshals. And, yes, Woolworth in Greensboro also desegregated its lunch counters. Sit-ins were one of the most effective kinds of protests during the Civil Rights Movement. And it started with four intelligent, ambitious and civic-minded African American students and grew to more than 70,000 people protesting throughout the country. The protest ended on March 25th\u2014lasting 5 months, 3 weeks and 3 days.   I absolutely love this story; it is SO inspirational on many different levels. The close friendship among the students. Their motivation, discipline and courage. Their education and reliance on a philosophy of non-violence and civil disobedience. The quick growth of the protests among college students who seemed ripe and ready to show their discontent and ability to fight for their rights. I could go on and on about this but I think that you see the same picture.* And because these students deserve our respect and have earned their place in history, I want to mention their names:   Ezell Blair, Jr. David Richmond Franklin McCain Joseph McNeil   *[Applause track here]       This story shows how a small but determined group can create a big and lasting change. As a follow up, although their protests were successful and many people praised them, both Black and White, all of the Greensboro Four had to leave the city because of harassment and death threats. They had been labeled as troublemakers so the local white population made life difficult and dangerous for the men to continue living there. Today there are several statues and remembrances of the protests initiated by the Greensboro Four. The February One statue of the four student-activists is located on the campus of North Carolina A & T State University. It is really moving. And you can find the original four lunch counter seats at the International Civil Rights Center and Museum in Greensboro. I also have pictures on the Wiki History Podcast Facebook page. I strongly encourage you to see them. I\u2019m sure that you\u2019ll be moved too.   Our last group of student-activists (in Part I) took the fight for civil rights to another level\u2014the international level. They forged a CONNECTION with the civil rights movement in the United States and the anti-colonial movement that was sweeping across the continent of Africa. But I\u2019m jumping ahead of myself; I\u2019m just so excited to talk about this group. The group\u2019s name: The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (or SNCC). Let\u2019s start at the beginning.   Still--in 1960.   In April, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) sponsored a conference on student leadership and nonviolent resistance. This conference was partially initiated by the sit-ins in Greensboro and other cities. 300 students attended that conference. These students (who acted as delegates and observers) witnessed the formation of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. SNCC was born!   The members of SNCC joined the Freedom Riders that were sponsored by CORE (remember, Congress of Racial Equality). The Freedom Riders would take people all over the southern states to test the public facilities at the bus stations. However, the Freedom Riders started facing VERY intense attacks and violence. Buses were burned. People were assaulted with baseball bats, bombs and other weapons. Because of these attacks, in 1961, CORE suspended its Freedom Rides. SNCC decided to start running its own Freedom Rides. A SNCC member said, \u201cThere was so much at stake, we could NOT allow the segregationists to stop us. We HAD to continue that Freedom Ride EVEN if we were killed in the process.\u201d So SNCC started making its own Freedom rides into the southern states.After numerous members of SNCC were beaten, tortured and imprisoned on false charges during the Freedom Rides, the government was forced to intervene and repeal the segregation laws that regulated interstate public transportation. SNCC had won\u2014but at a great cost.   But the students wanted more. Their next campaign was for voting rights, which they started in 1963. Their slogan \u201cone man, one vote\u201d became the cornerstone of SNCC\u2019s programs. SNCC demanded universal suffrage in the United States, continuing to parallel the efforts in the U.S. with the efforts taking place within the anti-colonial struggle in Africa. These were some serious students!   SNCC continued its sit-in protests and also met with the Oginga Odinga, the president of the newly independent government of Kenya. The racist image of the United States that SNCC\u2019s work showed to the world was a sharp contrast to the picture of democracy painted by the politicians in Washington. And this became a problem.   In 1964, SNCC embarked on its most challenging effort with the Mississippi Summer Project. SNCC joined with other civil rights organizations in the state. (Like the SCLC and church organizations.) The coalition mobilized nearly a thousand volunteers from northern universities to travel to Mississippi to organize an independent Freedom Democratic Party and to register thousands of African Americans to vote. This was the famous Freedom Summer. The white protesters (including Klan members, law enforcement, policians and members of citizen\u2019s councils) responded to SNCC\u2019s civil rights activities with murder, beatings and imprisonment. If you\u2019re wondering, this WAS summer that Cheney, Goodman and Schwerner kidnapped and killed were killed by police and the ku klux klan. More young lives cut short for trying to register Black voters. Unfortunately, the Freedom Democratic Party was never seated at the National Democratic Convention in 1964 and universal suffrage wouldn\u2019t be guaranteed until the passage of the Voting Rights Act in 1965, but the work by SNCC brought many more people into the movement for political and economic equality.   Because SNCC had gained a high level of prominence from its consistent work and many successes, the student organization was invited to send a delegation to tour several independent countries in Africa during the fall of 1964. They visited the Republic of Guinea and received a special invitation to meet President Sekou Toure. One of SNCC\u2019s leading members, John Lewis also visited Kenya, Zambia and other African countries. After this important trip, SNCC created an international affairs section, which made a powerful presentation before the United Nations Committee on Decolonization. The role of SNCC during this period illustrated the interconnectedness of the African American struggle for equality and the struggle for independence by the colonized countries on the African continent. Independence, equality, and civil rights were now expanded beyond U.S. borders into an international movement on two continents! Wow. That is huge! Students took the struggle to a new level\u2014as only young people can do!   But SNCC never lost sight of its commitment and work in the cities, small towns and rural areas of the south, working with farmers and young activists on a daily basis to fight for civil rights.   SNCC was a strong and sophisticated organization. It took political activism to a new level while always staying true to its vision. And its members bravely put themselves in harm\u2019s way to demand the right to vote and to demand equality in housing and education. They even faced the issue of police brutality together with its close ally, The Black Panthers. (Did you know that the Black Panthers\u2019 full name was the Black Panthers for Self-Defense?) I just have to give a big shout out to the Black Panthers (who were made up mostly of young people and students) for their efforts in the civil rights movement and for Black empowerment. Everyone had a role. But I want to mention just a few names from the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee:   Ella Baker Marion Barry John Lewis Kwame Ture Julian Bond   [Applause here.]*   Julian Bond, who was a former founding member of SNCC and eventually served in the Georgia Senate and House of Representatives, remarked, "a final SNCC legacy is the destruction of the psychological shackles which had kept black southerners in physical and mental servitude; SNCC helped break those chains forever. It demonstrated that ordinary women and men, young and old, could perform extraordinary tasks."   This wise statement applies to all of these student and youth activists. And we\u2019ll definitely see this in the next group of young people. Then in Part II, you will learn ways that YOU can make a positive difference in your own town, country or even the world. And, yes, it IS possible!   We\u2019re gonna go back in time and back down south to Birmingham, Alabama, 1963. There was no Civil Rights Act. No Voting Rights Act. Segregation was still the law in many states in the south and whites fiercely defended this way of life in Alabama. Dr. Martin Luther King, the SCLC, SNCC and other civil rights organizations and churches are DETERMINED to release the racist grip that the Ku Klux Klan, law enforcement, white politicians and citizens\u2019 councils hold on the city. In Dr. King\u2019s words, it was a true symbol of \u201chard-core resistance to integration.\u201d [pause]* May 1963. Birmingham, Alabama is \u201cground zero\u201d in the fight for civil rights.   Civil rights leaders needed to take a stronger and more radical approach to their nonviolent protests. So, they decided to request the help and participation of students. They approached high school students and college students to volunteer in a march. And the students stepped up the plate. The students were trained in the tactics of non-violent resistance. Thus began the famous, never-to-be forgotten Children\u2019s Crusade.   On May 2, 1963, 800 Black students skipped school and gathered at the 16th street Baptist Church, awaiting for instructions. They marched 10 miles to downtown on a mission to meet with Birmingham Mayor about segregation. As the students approached city hall, singing songs of freedom, they were corralled by police and arrested. Hundreds were put into paddy wagons and taken to jail.   But that wasn\u2019t the end.   The march would eventually include 3,000 children.   The next day, May 3rd, the march resumed. But this time it was NOT met with a peaceful response. Police were waiting for them with clubs, water cannons and police dogs. The Birmingham Public Safety Commissioner\u2014the infamous Bull Connor--ordered the men to immediately attack the students. They released the dogs and sprayed the students with the water cannons. The scene turned from a peaceful and quiet march of students singing along their way to city hall into a violent scene of terror with kids scattering and screaming as they were beaten and attacked by dogs.   The media captured the violent attack against the unarmed youngsters. Videos were shown around the country, actually the world. White-owned businesses and the white residents of Birmingham were criticized and ostracized by people across the country. On May 10, city leaders agreed to desegregate businesses and public facilities. It also captured the attention and sympathy of the President Kennedy who felt then compelled to public support federal Civil Rights legislation, leading to the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Oh, yeah, and Martin Luther King negotiated having Bull Connor removed from public office!   The Children\u2019s Crusade was an essential part of the Civil Rights Movement. Not just because it happened in what was called the \u201cmost racist city in the South.\u201d But also because the children were so determined and focused. They were prepared to face violence. Many of the adults didn\u2019t want to face arrest and imprisonment so they refused to participate. (Please understand that I\u2019m not making any judgments about them.) But the kids were simply fed up and refused to back down. Many of them were arrested multiple times, had been beaten on numerous occasions and faced expulsion from school. Yet they kept coming back in greater and greater numbers. Why would they do that? Here are the words of one of the high school student activists:         Jessie Shepherd, then 16, was soaking wet (from the fire hoses) when she was loaded up in a paddy wagon. \u201cI was told not to participate,\u201d says Shepherd, now a retired clinical diet technician. \u201cBut I was tired of the injustice.\u201d     \u201cI couldn\u2019t understand why there had to be a colored fountain and a white fountain,\u201d says Shepherd. \u201cWhy couldn\u2019t I drink out the fountain that other little kids drank out of? As I got older, I understood that\u2019s just the way it was, because my skin was black, and we were treated differently because of that.\u201d So she marched.   And that march changed the nation.   As we end Part I of this podcast show on student-activism in the civil rights movement, I would ask that if you participated as a student-activist in this march or any of the numerous other marches, sit-ins, Freedom Rides or any other protests, please contact rememberinghistory.com and tell your experience. We want to hear YOUR story. Please add your story and experiences on the comment page. Or you can send me a personal email message to robin@rememberinghistory.com. And please tell your story to YOUR children, your nieces, nephews and other children that you. They NEED to know that young people and students CAN make a difference. That they HAVE power and influence. And knowing YOUR experience and knowing African American history (no matter about yours or the child\u2019s cultural background) shows proof of the power that young people hold in their hands.   On that high note, we will turn to present ways that YOU can get involved, ways that YOU can help. I hope you\u2019ve seen that everyone can contribute. And that everyone has reserves of strength and courage that they probably never knew existed\u2026until they are called to show it. That\u2019s exactly what the young people and students did during the Civil Rights movement. And the young people and students TODAY also have the strength and courage to make a positive impact in the lives of their families, communities, the country and even the world. And, as 2017 begins, it IS clear that strength and courage as well as integrity, passion and vision are going to be needed. As Dr. King remarked, what they do now will impact children who have not yet been born. Please join us in Part II to start making an impact. We have reached the end of this podcast show. Are you feeling inspired? I really am! And I hope that you too.   Please remember to look at the Wiki History Podcast page on Facebook so you can actually SEE these brave kids and for really candid scenes of their experiences. I have deliberately decided NOT to put the mutilated picture of Emmett Till on the page but you can find a picture of him as a promising and eager young man who was the apple of this mother\u2019s eye. You will also see other scenes from Money, Mississippi. And definitely don\u2019t miss the picture of Ruby Bridges being escorted into school surrounded by federal marshals. It\u2019s all there on the Wiki History Facebook page.   Also, if you enjoyed this show, please let others know about it. They might like it, find it inspirational too. We are growing a community of historians of all ages, backgrounds and interests. Everyone is welcome. Let\u2019s change the way people think about history\u2014one good friend at a time.   And we have a special announcement and offer to make to all Wiki History podcast listeners in the next show. Especially for Black History month.   So,come back soon to Remembering History where we ARE remembering history and we\u2019re making it. Every day!                                             At the end of the show: Finally, I just want to remind you that 2017, the Wiki History podcast show is dedicated to the National Museum of African American History & Culture. Located in Washington, DC, the National Museum of African American History & Culture opened in 2016. This kind of museum was long overdue but it finally happened and it is a place that everyone should visit and explore. Museums are a great way to bring history to life and to keep it alive for future generations. Wiki History is honored to be a part of this important process. For every person that listens to this podcast show, rememberinghistory.com will donate $1 to the National Museum of African American History & Culture.   And we have a special announcement and offer to make to all Wiki History podcast listeners.   Come back soon to Remembering History where we ARE remembering history and we\u2019re making it. Every day!   Bye for now!           ************************************************************   But what TO do? How can YOU have a positive impact?   Recognize that there are major problems and challenges around the world. Some problems that existed and led to the Civil Rights Movement STILL exist. Problems like discrimination in voting, education, job and housing still exist. Police violence, poverty and cultural and religious intolerance STILL exist. There are more than * refugees around the world. The environment is under threat. I don\u2019t want to even try to list all the problems on a worldwide scale, but I just recognize that the world is a far from perfect place. There\u2019s a lot that you can do to have an impact. But awareness is the first step.   Get your education. Learn history. The rememberinghistory.com team is committed to keeping history alive and spreading the word so that we can avoid the mistakes of the past, learn the lessons of great people from the past. The world needs more people with education and insight. This doesn\u2019t only mean an \u201cacademic\u201d education. Learn a trade. Develop a skill. Read a lot. Okay, these were 2 good ways to prepare yourself to save the world. Now, let\u2019s look at some specific things that you can do.   Do you have a cell phone? Well, you can use it to document racist behavior, threatening behavior or anything that is unacceptable. The camera on your phone can save a life. Remember, the world would never have known about the police beating of Rodney King. You can also use your phone to call for assistance from family, friends or the police. Trayvon Martin used his phone to report that he was being followed. Your phone can be a powerful tool.                                                         After the first discussion:   Also, if you enjoy this show, please let others know about it. They might like it, find it inspirational too. Let\u2019s change the way people think about history\u2014one good friend at a time.     At the end of the show: Finally, I just want to remind you that 2017, the Wiki History podcast show is dedicated to the National Museum of African American History & Culture. Located in Washington, DC, the National Museum of African American History & Culture opened in 2016. This kind of museum was long overdue but it finally happened and it is a place that everyone should visit and explore. Museums are a great way to bring history to life and to keep it alive for future generations. Wiki History is honored to be a part of this important process. For every person that listens to this podcast show, rememberinghistory.com will donate $1 to the National Museum of African American History & Culture.   And we have a special announcement and offer to make to all Wiki History podcast listeners.   Come back soon to Remembering History where we ARE remembering history and we\u2019re making it. Every day!   Bye for now!     ","author_name":"Wiki History!","author_url":"http:\/\/www.rememberinghistory.com","html":"