Tuesday, September 28, 2010

PERIOD 7 - THE CHILDREN'S MARCH

Today, you watched the film, The Children's March. Please post any thoughts you have about the film and comment on at least one other student's post.

20 comments:

Christine Hillier said...

It was incredibly sad to watch young, innocent children walk into jail, just to make a statement. These children were more daring than their parents! When Martin Luther King walked into jail, he hoped his people (adults) would follow along. I realized Mr. King must have felt conflicted and frustrated because his young followers were making more of a difference than adult African Americans. Imagine being Mr. King at that time..noticing thousands of children were shipped into jail by buses day after day because of what you told someone to do. As the film continued, we saw the Birmingham Police Dept. bring out their fire engines and take out their hoses... to watch the crowds of children be knocked over by the powerful forces of the water was unpleasant to say the least.
This film made me realize how hard the African American race had to work in order to receive the rights they deserved. So sad.

Annie Meaney said...

I thought it was pretty cool how all of those kids made a huge statement that way. With thousands of African Americans storming through town and being arrested without much reaction but happiness, it must have frustrated the police greatly. It was especially great when they didnt stop day after day, they never gave up. It became rambunctious and violent where it once again became inhuman and frightening, but they still never gave up. I agree with Christine, it also made me realize how hard the African American race had to work in order to get freedom.

Nick Judd said...

It was very shocking that the African Americans during this time period were put in a situation where their only hope for equality and civil rights was to send their children to jail to make a statement. I also thought that the Birmingham Police and Bull acted despicably by spraying the children with high pressured hoses and allowing the vicious dogs to attack anyone they wanted. I also understand Martin Luther King Jr.'s moral dilemma. He wanted progress in society, and while this may have been the only way for that to potentially happen, you still don't want all these children to go to jail and potentially be hurt. I agree with how Christine said it was extremely sad to watch these young innocent children go to jail, just to make a point.

Mike Ceruolo said...

I thought that it was very noble of these kids to join the African American fight for freedom from discrimination. Knowing fully and accepting that they were going to jail, these kids remained,for the most part, peaceful. If I was an African student not only do I not believe that I could protest against such cruelty in such a peaceful way, but I also don't believe that I could willingly throw myself in jail for my cause. That takes a lot of courage especially for children this age. I agree with Christine. Watching all of this struggle accompanied with African American determination, made me realize, even more so than I already did, how hard African Americans have to fight for the rights that they have today.

Sean Nolan said...

I was astounded to watch the bravery and courage that the African American children possessed to so fearlessly protest civil rights. To go up against the Birmingham police force is truly a incredible task in its own, but to then openly get arrested is just that much more impressive and inspiring. I agree with mike in that it is very impressive how peaceful the kids were, even when they were being attacked by the police and fire departments.

Sean Nolan said...

I was astounded to watch the bravery and courage that the African American children possessed to so fearlessly protest civil rights. To go up against the Birmingham police force is truly a incredible task in its own, but to then openly get arrested is just that much more impressive and inspiring. I agree with mike in that it is very impressive how peaceful the kids were, even when they were being attacked by the police and fire departments.

Celina Morais said...

Though this film is very heartbreaking at the same time it is one of my favorite films that I have seen more than once in Mr. Gallaghers class. Parts of it really were still shocking, how young some kids were who were in jail and some of the actions that were taken to fight against the african americans such as the fire hoses which I thought was a bit ridiculous. But I agree with Sean, it was astounding to watch all these kids step up against something "bigger than themselves." This film really shows how even the younger generations can really make a huge difference, and I really enjoyed that

Corinne White said...

I was amazed at the extreme lengths the African Americans had to go to in order to get noticed. And instead of realizing this, how the authorities of Birmingham instead did everything in their power to stop them. I thought it was so unnecessary for the whites to act this way toward the statements made by the African Americans. It was terrible to see that it got to the point that the president had to intervene. I also couldn't believe that the Police and Fire departments could have in in them to shoot the African Americans with fire hoses. I agree with Christine that Martin Luther King must have been astounded, and a little afraid, that his young followers were the ones participating in making a difference.

Matt Oriol said...

There is a big issue when you see this happening in a country built on Freedom. The Black Youth of America decided to act peacfully in a lethal city called Burmingham Alabama. Martin Luther King was hit with a tough choice to allow these kids to have to face the white police of the south. Eventually John F. Kennedy sees this and urges them to stop their protests because of violence occuring. Saying this issue will only breed more violence. It goes to show that racism can escalate into horror just because a black community wants freedome.

Christine Hillier said...

I agree with Annie when she talked about how she said it was sort of cool and it was a different way to make a statement, and how the police dept must have been very annoyed by the childrens' actions.

Sarah Hart said...

I really enoyed watching The Children's March. I think it's absolutely amazing that those children were brave enough to risk their safety in order to stand up for their rights. While I think it's incredibly sad that it had to come down to children sending themselves to jail in order for the people of Birmingham and the rest of the country to realize what was going on I admire the what the children did. One of the most shocking things about the movie was the way in which the Police and Fire Department treated the children. The fact that they would use fire hoses on them shows just how little respect they had for the children and the complete disregard they had for their safety. It is unbelievable that they would treat children in that way. I agree with Nick that Martin Luther King must have had a lot of trouble coming to terms with what was happening because on the one hand, he wanted progress but on the other, he didn't want children to risk their safety for it.

Pat Hession said...

The film left me in awe of how brave and determined these young children were to achieve freedom. They were willing to put theirselves at risk with cruel and ridiculing officers to make a statement. This showed how strongly they wanted to have equal rights and be treated fairly despite the color of their skin. In addition, I liked how the african americans stuck with their plan and kept going to jail for days even though the officers were using violence and spraying them with powerful hoses. I agree with Christine's statement that Dr. King must have been very frustrated that the children were taking a larger role in their fight for freedom than the adults.

Matt Hally said...

While watching the film, I was extremely impressed by the courage of the African American children for their willingness to go to jail and to do anything to help their cause to obtain equal rights. I don’t believe that I would possess that type of bravery had I been put in a similar position. However, I believe that the Birmingham police and fire department did a terrible job of handling the riots. If they really wanted to make the marches and riots unsuccessful, they would have dealt with the situation peacefully, to send out the notion that they somewhat cared for the African Americans. However, they blasted groups of people with fire hoses until the groups dissolved, which certainly portrays the southern whites as vicious towards African Americans. This would gain a lot of sympathy for the civil rights movement as news of these riots spread across the country. I also agree with Pat that I admired how the kids were persistent in their movement, as they continued to willingly head to jail after days of violence from the police department.

Sam Plummer said...

It was kind of sad to watch such young children resorting to such extreme measures just for the sake of racial equality. The fact that they were repeatedly going to jail to make their statement was an incredibly bold and powerful move. It was also shocking to see the opposition made by the white citizens and the fire dept. in their attempts to dispel the children. The act of spraying high pressure water hoses which have the power to strip bark off of trees was very disturbing. The message made by the children was a strong one and their persistance and determination was admirable. I agree with what Matt said about the fact that african americans had to go to such lengths to gain freedom and equality, which are the values that this nation was founded was pretty shocking.

David Johnson said...

I thought it was pretty amazing that a group of kids were able to rally together because they wanted equality despite the fact that they knew they were going to be arrested. By having all the black students put in jail they showed that the whites didn't know how to deal with change and their only solution was to put any black that tried to express themself in jail. I agree with Annie that this event was made better by the fact that it occured over a span of days so the police constantly had to be transporting kids to jail and this became very frustrating for them.

Nick Cibelli said...

I found the determination of the black children, trying to get equal rights incredible. The desire to do what ever it took to fight for their rights was shocking to me. Not being phased my high pressure water houses being blasted by firefighters, getting beaten by whites, and being arrested in some cases several times, must have took extreme measures in their pasts to go through this great ordeal. The anger that must have built up inside them must have taken more than one day of not being able to eat where ever they wanted but centuries of discrimination and being treated unfairly. I agree with Sam about how persistent the children where how determined they were to stop everything they were doing and stick up for themselves.

Tara Slysz said...

There were a couple of scenes in this film that really got to me and made me tear up. And they weren't horrible acts, like the fire hoses being unleashed upon children, that was just horrifying. The parts that stood out to me start with the first 50 children peacefully walking out of the church, down the front steps, singing "We shall overcome." This song is so emotional and empowering when sung by people who truly believe and live the words. And then after they were bombarded with tons of water and most of the crowds scattered, we see a small group of about 10 students, holding hands, holding their own against the water, singing. Also, something Mike said about not taking going to jail so lightly made me stop and think. While I was watching the film, I don't think I realized just how bad that might be to willingly go to prison, with no way to know when you'll get out. It all seemed like one big party for kids.

ryan iasiello said...

I thought that the idea of having children march and filling up the jail cells was ingenious. It was exstreamly brave for the kids to march and when they got out of jail to march again. I aslo thought it was wrong when the fireman put the hoses on them. Also when they let the dogs on people fow watching. And that it affected america and the world when people saw this. i agree with christine on relizing how the African race had to perserver through.

Paul Iasiello said...

It sickens me to see my country allow racism. Eqaulitity isn't something earned nor defined by the color of your skin but an act of humanity that everyone has the right to. Watching children being inflicted with pain because of the color of their skin sickens me. The worst part of it all they had to go to jail to prove their point and it still didnt get across to a portion of our population.
Im thankful like christine that society isn't like the way it use to be. we don't degrade an entire race based off the color of their skin

Robbie Tanner said...

I was absent for this film