Editor’s note: This commentary is by Jay Craven, of Peacham, a filmmaker and director of Kingdom County Productions. He teaches at Sarah Lawrence College. This piece first aired on VPR.
[T]he sudden surge of high school-driven youth activism, focused on issues of gun violence, reminds me of the 1963 Birmingham Alabama Children’s Crusade, which changed the course of history and moved President John F. Kennedy to take a dramatic stand against racial segregation which had refused to yield – in Alabama and elsewhere.
Thousands of students, some as young as 7 years old and trained in nonviolence, fanned out into the streets just several weeks after the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. marched in Birmingham, was arrested, and wrote his powerful “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” These legions of children protested peacefully, asking to meet with the Birmingham mayor.
They were met with force. Hundreds were arrested and, on their second day, Public Safety Commissioner Bull O’Connor, ordered police to deluge the children with heavy water hoses, hit them with clubs, and threaten them with police dogs.
The children continued to protest. Some were joined by adults as they marched to the city jail and sang to the jailed children. Attorney General Robert Kennedy asked King to call of the demonstrations, saying that a black child could be maimed in the protests. King retorted,” Black children are hurt every day.”
The protesters’ persistence paid off — after more than a week of tension and confrontation city officials agreed to meet — and to desegregate local businesses which had refused to serve or hire black citizens.
Several weeks later, President Kennedy offered his most moving and decisive speech on civil rights — directly in response to King’s letter from jail — and the children’s march. He called for immediate congressional action in the areas of desegregation by all businesses and in education. And for voting rights.
Today’s young protesters seem as determined and as fearless as these kids did 55 years ago. And they’re asking to have a voice in deliberations about the future of our nation — and our state, here in Vermont.
We should encourage young people’s activism and desire to participate. Scotland, Austria, Ecuador and Brazil allow 16-year-olds to vote. Vermont should, too. What better way to respect and retain our young people, while they’re still based at home, in their classrooms, and in our communities?
Let’s involve young Vermonters in our conversations before they leave for college or jobs. We might be surprised to see how many would come back — and deepen their commitment to our state.
Young people have a lot to say. Let’s listen.
