The Breakfast Club - IDKMYDE: Children's March of 1963

Episode Date: February 18, 2025

Today’s episode of IDKMYDE tells the tale of The Children’s March of 1963: when a bunch of kids showed up with more courage than most adults, proving that sometimes the youngest voices are the loudest—and the most powerful.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dressing. Dressing. Oh, French dressing. Exactly. Oh, that's good. I'm AJ Jacobs and my current obsession is puzzles. And that has given birth to my podcast, The Puzzler. Something about Mary Poppins?

Exactly. This is fun. You can get your daily puzzle nuggets delivered straight to your ears. Listen to The Puzzler every day on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to My Legacy. I'm Martin Luther King III, and together with my wife, Andrea Waters King,

and our dear friends, Mark and Craig Kilburger, we explore the personal journeys that shape extraordinary lives. Join us for heartfelt conversations with remarkable guests like David Oyelowo, Mel Robbins, Martin Sheen, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, and Billy Porter. Listen to My Legacy on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

This is My Legacy. Yo, what up? It's your girl Jess Hilarious, and I think it's time to acknowledge that I'm not just a comedian. It's time to add uncertified therapists to my credentials, because each and every Wednesday I'm fixing your mess on Caffely Reckless on the Black Effect Podcast Network. Got problems in your relationship?

Come to me, your best friend acting shady. Come to me. Thought you was the father, but you not? Come to me. I can't promise I won't judge you, but I can guarantee that I will help you. Listen to Carefully Reckless on the Black Effect Podcast Network, iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, it's Alec Baldwin. This past season on my podcast, Here's the Thing, I spoke with more actors, musicians, policymakers, and so many other fascinating people, like writer and

actor Dan Aykroyd. I love writing more than anything. You're left alone. You know, you do three hours in the morning, you write three hours in the afternoon, go pick up a kid from school, then write at night, and after nine hours you come out with seven pages and then you're moving on. Listen to Here's the Thing on the iHeartRadio app Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

On today's episode of I Didn't Know, maybe you didn't either, let's talk about the Children's March of 1963, a historical moment that doesn't get nearly the recognition it deserves. And honestly when I first heard about it I thought wait, did what? so let's be real when I was a kid the only time I did anything revolutionary is when I was singing Kirk Franklin do you want a revolution? I said do you want a revolution? But not these kids in Birmingham, Alabama. They weren't playing around, Jack. There were 1963 and Birmingham was the most racist city in the country. Segregation was everywhere. Schools, buses, bathrooms, water fountains.

And I'm thinking how racist do you have to be to hate somebody at a water fountain? You upset that they're getting hydrated? It's silly. And the adults have been protesting for months. But the city wasn't budging. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his crew that started quoting Jay-Z, they said we need more people. That's when James Bevel said, I've got a plan.

Let's get the kids involved. Now I don't know what parents sat down with their 10 year old and said, listen, pack a lunch baby, because you're going to fight Jim Crow today but they did it and the kids they showed up. Thousands of them left school and gathered at the 16th Street Baptist Church like it was recess and instead of dodge balls they were like hey we're gonna dodge dogs, fire hoses and billy clubs today. Seriously that's some next-level courage right there. We talking about kids. Now imagine being a racist police officer that day. You out here

ready to fight and then you see a group of 12 year olds chanting for freedom. What do you even do? Well apparently if you erased as Birmingham police in 1963, you turned into cartoon villains. They brought out fire hoses, fire hoses to blast these kids off their feet. Unleash the dogs on them kids like it was a twisted lassie episode. Some of y'all don't remember lassie. But here's the thing, them kids didn't stop. They got arrested by the hundreds, thrown in jail like it was a field trip to Alcatraz and more kids just kept showing up day after day. They start putting on their swimsuits to prepare for the fire hoses. They marched, they sang, and they did not back down. Kids! And it worked! Cause the news saw them pictures. Kids getting hosed down and attacked by dogs. And the whole

world saw them pictures. You google children's march of 1963 right now and you can see them pictures. Suddenly people just couldn't ignore the civil rights movement any longer. That Children's March of 1963 pushed momentum forward and led to the Civil Rights Act of 1964. That's right, a bunch of kids in pigtails, cornrows, and penny loafers helped change the laws. Now why we don't hear more about this? I think it's because adults don't like

being shown up by the kids. Don't nobody wanna admit that a 10-year-old with a homemade sign have more guts than most of us do right now. But the lesson here is real. You ain't gotta wait till you're older or richer or more established to make an impact. These kids took risk because they believed in something bigger than themselves. So next time you think what can I really do to change things? Just remember if a bunch of kids with no smartphones no hashtags no tick-tock followers can bring down segregation What's stopping us? Let's all channel a little bit of 1963 energy shall we black folks black folks we channel We don't need no white folks channel in 1963 energy because history don't just happen It gets made and sometimes it's made by people

who ain't even old enough to drive and I didn't know maybe you didn't either. Dressing. Dressing. Oh French dressing. Exactly. I'm AJ Jacobs and my current obsession is puzzles. And that has given birth to my podcast, The Puzzler. Something about Mary Poppins? Exactly. This is fun. You can get your daily puzzle nuggets delivered straight to your ears. Listen to The Puzzler every day on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to My Legacy. I'm Martin Luther King III, and together with my wife, Andrea Waters King, and our dear

friends Mark and Craig Kilburger, we explore the personal journeys that shape extraordinary lives. Join us for heartfelt conversations with remarkable guests like David Oyelowo, Mel Robbins, Martin Sheen, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, and Billy Porter. Listen to My Legacy on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. This is My Legacy. Yo, what up?

It's your girl Jess Hilarious, and I think it's time to acknowledge that I'm not just a comedian. It's time to add uncertified therapists to my credentials because each and every Wednesday I'm fixing your mess on carefully reckless on the Black Effect Podcast Network. Got problems in your relationship? Come to me. Your best friend acting shady?

Come to me. Thought you was the father, but you not? Come to me. I can't promise I won't judge you, but I can guarantee that I will help you. Listen to Carefully Reckless on the Black Effect Podcast Network, iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast,

or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, it's Alec Baldwin. This past season on my podcast, Here's the Thing, I spoke with more actors, musicians, policymakers, and so many other fascinating people, like writer and actor Dan Aykroyd. I love writing more than anything. You're left alone. You do three hours in you know, you do three hours in the morning, you write three hours in the afternoon, go pick up a kid from school

and write at night and after nine hours you come out with seven pages and then you're moving on. Listen to Here's the Thing on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.