Best Of: 1A Remaking America: The Birmingham Movement, 60 Years Later

1A

NPR

News

4.3 • 4.5K Ratings

🗓️ 19 June 2023

⏱️ 48 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

On May 2, 1963, hundreds of school-age kids in Birmingham, Alabama, woke up with a plan. Through coded messages broadcast by local radio DJs, they were given the signal to leave the classroom and meet at the park for a peaceful protest against segregation in the city.

These actions by students brought national attention—and a new momentum—to the civil rights movement, support for which had been waning as more adults were jailed and reluctant to be arrested.

Civil rights leaders, including James Bevel, recruited young people to participate in a peaceful demonstration which became known as the Children's Crusade. Hundreds of kids were arrested by police for parading without a permit. Images of police dogs and firehoses being used on students in the city highlighted the injustices in Birmingham and prompted President John F. Kennedy to express support for federal civil rights legislation.

We discuss the Children's Crusade and it's impact 60 years later.

This conversation was recorded in April as part of our Remaking America collaboration with six public radio stations around the country, including WBHM. Remaking America is funded in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

Want to support 1A? Give to your local public radio station and subscribe to this podcast. Have questions? Find out how to connect with us by visiting our website.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Today we're bringing you a conversation we recorded on the road in Birmingham, Alabama.
0:12.9	We were there on the 60th anniversary of the launch of the Birmingham campaign and brought
0:17.6	national attention to the struggle for racial justice and what Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
0:22.4	called America's most segregated city.
0:25.4	We can get a breakthrough in Birmingham and really break down the walls of segregation.
0:32.4	It will demonstrate to the whole South at least a hard-fought South, but it can no longer
0:38.0	resist integration.
0:40.1	We traveled to Alabama as part of our Remaking America collaboration with six partner stations
0:45.2	across the country, including WBHM and Birmingham.
0:50.0	Remaking America looks at how our democracy is or is not working for all of us.
0:55.1	How far has Birmingham come since 1963?
0:59.2	That's the year the 16th Street Baptist Church was bombed.
1:03.0	Children took to the streets in protest and Dr. King composed his famous letter from
1:07.1	a Birmingham jail.
1:09.2	Later we hear from two people who participated in the children's march on May 2, 1963.
1:14.8	We also hear from Alabama's poet laureate, Birmingham native Ashley Jones.
1:19.9	She's the youngest person and first person of color to hold the title.
1:23.6	And first we hear from Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin.
1:27.3	This conversation was recorded at the historic Carver Theatre in the heart of the city's
1:31.6	Civil Rights District.
1:33.2	I'm Jen White.
1:34.2	You're listening to the 1A podcast where we get to the heart of the story.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from NPR, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of NPR and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.