It’s not always easy to recognize when you’re living in a pivotal moment of history. But life-changing experiences can happen when we least expect it. As I reflect on the anniversary of the Selma to Montgomery marches, I’m reminded of an interview with Sheyann Webb-Christburg for the “Eyes on the Prize” documentary.
The defining moment that changed the trajectory of her life happened on an ordinary walk to school 60 years ago. Just eight years old at the time, the inquisitive young girl saw a group of Black and white adults mingling outside Brown Chapel AME Church in Selma and decided to investigate. Filing into the back of the church to see what was going on, she quickly realized what all the fuss was about.
That was the first time she would hear Martin Luther King Jr. speak. His mere presence commanded the room, and when he began talking, the power of his words electrified the crowd. Webb-Christburg may have only been a child at the time, but the fervor with which Dr. King spoke inspired her to continue to return to that church so that she could learn more about the struggle for equal rights and become an active participant in the freedom movement.
“I would follow my own instincts as a child, and make my way to Brown Chapel AME Church for the mass meetings, and many times make my way on the marches without going to school,” Webb-Christburg later told ABC News.
Against her frightened parents’ wishes, Webb-Christburg would become the youngest marcher at Bloody Sunday. Along with hundreds of other participants, she stared down the state troopers on the Edmund Pettus Bridge, putting her life on the line to send a message that true justice requires equal access to the ballot box for all people.
It was one of the scariest days of her life. But even the brutal attacks against her fellow marchers couldn’t shake her determination. She eventually made it to Montgomery later that month along with thousands of new activists inspired by her courage and the courage of those original Selma foot soldiers.
Whether it was chance, fate, or simple curiosity that led Webb-Christburg to Brown Chapel AME Church that morning, witnessing the conviction of Dr. King stirred in her a passion for civil rights and activism that she carries to this day. And by welcoming her participation, those adults were able to nurture her interest into action.
While everyone may not have the oratory skills of Dr. King or John Lewis, her story is a reminder to all of us in the Civil Rights Movement that we have the power to inspire and to mold the next generation of leaders who will carry the torch forward. In fact, it is more urgent than ever that we find new ways to engage youth because the lifeblood of our movement has always been young people.
It was four North Carolina A&T freshmen who started the sit-ins in Woolworth’s department store in Greensboro that quickly swelled into a larger demonstration across 70 cities in the South. The young Freedom Riders—including Rep. Lewis—risked their lives to protest segregation on buses, enduring attacks by angry mobs and arrests for using “whites only” facilities. And during the 1964 Freedom Project, young Black students held voter registration drives in Mississippi, a state where Black people were being killed for simply trying to register to vote. These acts of resistance put them in the crosshairs of violent racists but simultaneously forced this country to open its eyes and confront the injustices being perpetrated against people of color in the South.
And like the Selma marches, this activism made a real difference. It led to the passage of landmark laws, like the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, that directly addressed discrimination and segregation, providing Black and Brown people with the tools that they needed to change the landscape of the deeply unequal South.
Sixty years later, we are in a new political environment that threatens to erode and erase the victories that the foot soldiers of the Civil Rights Movement marched for. With the Voting Rights Act hollowed out today, many state legislatures are seeking to use voter suppression tactics to stifle the political power of people of color and other groups pushed to the margins.
If we want to preserve our victories and honor the legacy of people who gave their lives in the struggle for civil rights, we need to motivate young people to participate. We have to provide a clear vision for the future that inspires them with the promise of an inclusive, multiracial democracy. And we have to show them that we aren’t just paying lip service when we speak at a podium or post on social media—that we have the courage to act by directly standing up to those in power who are using the government to dismantle antidiscrimination protections.
Infusing fresh energy into the fight for equality won’t come from older generations lecturing young people. We can inspire youth by sharing the stories of the past. We can guide them by offering counsel and explaining how our experiences may mirror their own. But we need to give them the space to navigate this different world and forge ahead with new strategies that can meet the distinct challenges of this moment.
As Webb-Christburg said, “We must understand how important it is for us to listen to the voices of our young people today. They are the voices of hope, the instruments of change in our instruments of progress and peace in this world today.”
The march continues, and apathy is not an option.
— Margaret Huang is president and CEO of the Southern Poverty Law Center
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