Last year I signed up for a 2-day seminar hosted by the Institute for Nonviolence, https://www.nonviolencechicago.org/, in honor of Martin Luther King. I can add this to the list of experiences that have changed me in ways I could never have imagined. The objective of the program was to learn about Dr. King’s vision of a Beloved Community and how it can be applied today.
One memorable moment was watching the documentary, The Children’s March. Dr. King had gone to the churches to ask the congregants in Birmingham Alabama to participate in peaceful protests and risk the possibility of jail. Few volunteered. As a parent I understand their concerns. They risked losing their jobs, homes and even lives. They had families to take care of at home. So, the children secretly decided to protest in their stead.
On day one, 973 children were arrested. On day two, the “safety commissioner” Bull O’Connor, ordered the fire department to use fire hoses to disperse the crowds of children and released attack dogs with names like, nig*er to attack the kids. The children would not be silenced. On day two, 1,922 children were arrested. And finally, on day three, 4,163 children were arrested. The jails were filled to capacity and the over flow were housed in tents outside like livestock. Children were held for over a week and released without warning at all hours of the day and night. One particularly poignant story told by comedian Dick Gregory, who was jailed with the children, brought me to tears. He asked a 4-year-old child sitting on the jail floor why he was there, the child answered “tweedom” since he couldn’t yet pronounce the word, freedom.
This protest lead to JFK announcing the Civil Rights Act.
Sadly, 3 months later, in retaliation for a movement lead partly by thousands of brave children, the 16th Street Church was bombed and 4 young children lost their lives. Today we remember their names: Addie Mae Collins (14), Cynthia Wesley (14), Carole Robertson (14) and Carol Denise McNair (11).
This is our history. We cannot forget it. But I fear that we have forgotten what these brave children risked their lives to defend.
Two years ago hundreds of White Nationalist descended on Charlottesville carrying torches and guns while chanting, “blacks will not replace us” and our President defended them by saying there are “good people” on both sides. Our country has shamefully allowed for the prison complex to target people of color. According the the NAACP, “between 1980 and 2015, the number of people incarcerated in America increased from roughly 500,000 to over 2.2 million and If African Americans and Hispanics were incarcerated at the same rates as whites, prison and jail populations would decline by almost 40%.”
And the atrocities don’t stop there. Over 65,000 unaccompanied immigrant minors were detained at the border just last year. Currently there are over 4,000 children of color imprisoned on our southern border. Being held in for profit detention facilities. We are making a profit off their suffering. Their only crime? Wanting a better life.
Where is the outrage. Where are the thousands willing to risk prison and harm to stand up for the voiceless. As the young girls protest sign read, “Can a man love God and hate his brother?”
So, in honor of Martin Luther King and his beloved community, we must stand up and be the voice of the oppressed. I try not to be one of those people who quote Dr. King one day a year and turn their backs on the injustice the other 364 days. Dr. King agreed with Dante, “The hottest place in Hell is reserved for those who remain neutral in times of great moral conflict.”
I strongly recommend you take 45 minutes out of your day and watch this film, The Children’s March. It has become an annual tradition for me.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BT-QkNkMZjk
