The Children's Campaign
Birmingham, Alabama:  May, 1963

"The Children's Campaign was the voluntary involvement of children in civil rights demonstrations in Birmingham.  Thousands of young people marched, were arrested, attacked by police dogs, and tortured with water hoses.
Martin Luther King, Jr. was arrested in Birmingham on April 12, 1963.  It was from his prison cell that he wrote the now famous "Letter from a Birmingham Jail".
Shortly after, at an evening rally, Dr. King asked who would be willing to demonstrate with him the next day and risk going to jail if necessary.  In response, and to the surprise of the adults sitting in the room, a group of children and teens stood up.
The adults urged against the children's involvement in  the protest marches.  But another of King's associates, James Bevel, argued in favor:  "Are they too young to go to segregated schools?  Are they too young to be kept out of amusement parks?  Are they too young to be refused a hamburger in a restaurant?"  "No," came the response.  "Then they are not too young to want their freedom!"  That night it was decided that any child old enough to join a church was old enough to march.
On May 2, there were over 1,000 children, teens and college students who showed up for the protest march .
As a result of the "Children's Campaign" the city leadership and the civil rights demonstrators made an agreement to desegregate the city.
excerpt from "Icons of the Civil Rights Movement" by Pamela Chatterton-Purdy and Rev. Dr. David A. Purdy.
Read more about the Civil Rights movement:

"Icons of the Civil Rights Movement"