The Children's Crusade was a controversial episode of the modern civil rights movement and the 1963 Birmingham Campaign in which African American school children marched for desegregation. Organized by the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights (ACMHR) and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) in Birmingham, Jefferson County, it was intended to force integration of public spaces and local businesses in the famously segregated city. Although unsuccessful in immediately desegregating the city's public spaces, the Crusade did bring national attention to the harsh realities of Jim Crow laws in the South. Soon after the event, Pres. John F. Kennedy called for a civil rights bill that one year later became the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

By the end of April 1963, the Birmingham Campaign, led by Martin Luther King Jr. of the SCLC and Fred L. Shuttlesworth of the ACMHR, was faltering. After weeks of boycotts, picket lines, sit-ins, and arrests, the campaign had not achieved the goals of desegregating public areas in the highly segregated city as set forth in the ACMHR's Birmingham Manifesto. It explained that African Americans had been economically exploited and endured political domination, despite seeking relief by petitioning the city and working through the legal system. Along with desegregating public places, the ACMHR also called upon the city to institute merit hiring policies for city jobs.

Information Link:

http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-3944

Public Access America

PublicAccessPod Productions

#America #History #Podcast #Education #Not4Profit

Footage downloaded and edited by PublicAccessPod

Podcast Link

Discover Us on Podible: https://play.podible.co/series/54364

Review us Stitcher: http://goo.gl/XpKHWB

Review us iTunes: https://goo.gl/soc7KG

Subscribe GooglePlay: https://goo.gl/gPEDbf

YouTube https://goo.gl/xrKbJb