The Birmingham Children's March: A Play About the 1963 Children's Crusade for Civil Rights

Thirteen-year-old Freida McCarter woke up wanting nothing to do with the freedom marches and civil rights demonstrations being planned in her Birmingham neighborhood, especially after learning that she would have to remain nonviolent if attacked. "Well, you don't have to worry about me. Ain't nobody gonna put their hands on me and there is no way I'm sittin' in jail for the freedom I should have had when I was born." Despite her intention to stay away from the marches, unforeseen circumstances lead Freida to make a fateful decision that places her in harm's way. While peacefully marching into downtown Birmingham, Freida and the other young demonstrators will be attacked by cops accompanied by bloodthirsty police dogs, and firemen armed with high-pressure water hoses before being arrested and carted off to jail. If Freida is going to overcome this crisis, she must summon the will to control her temper, the courage to overcome her fear and the resilience to face the consequences of her actions. Alan Marshall's Birmingham Children's March is a dramatization of the events in Birmingham, Alabama during the spring of 1963 when the peaceful marches led by school children rescued Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s faltering civil rights campaign and moved a reluctant President Kennedy to introduce a landmark civil rights bill to Congress. This interactive, mass meeting production featuring freedom songs, speeches, testimonies, and character-driven drama, all happening around the audience.