The March on Washington - 57 Years Later
As thousands gather today to commemorate the 1963 March on Washington with a new march for freedom and jobs, you may notice a drastic difference in the way activists are dressed. Today, you’ll see everything from “Hands Up, Don’t Shoot” and Black Lives Matter t-shirts to ensembles that show the faces and display the names of the slain victims of gun violence. Compared to the pictures of crowds of people dressed in their “Sunday Best” in 1963, it’s clear that times have changed (at least in terms of dressing), but not much has changed in the fight for justice and equality.
“Dress code didn’t have to be addressed. “We knew when we stepped out of the house, our appearance was to always be sharp.” said Paulette Roby, the Chairwoman of Birmingham Foot Soldiers, an organization founded in 1991 by Martin Luther King, Jr.’s field staffer Tommy Wren. BFS is dedicated to preserving the legacy of Civil Rights activists by sharing the stories. Members of the organization include the late John Lewis, A.G. Gatson, C.T. Vivian, Joseph Lowry, Fred Shuttlesworth, Jesse Jackson, and Raymond Goosby.
“I began marching as a teenager. I marched in what I wore out of the house, which was always Johnston & Murphy dress shoes, Alpaca-blend sweaters, and dress shirts tucked into our dress pants, said Goosby. “I was the number one quarterback at Ullman High School and I can only remember wearing my Chuck Taylors to play basketball.”
During the Civil Rights Movement, both Roby and Goosby attended mass meetings with their parents. Like most young children and teenagers, they listened in on what was being said, but neither recalls any special instructions given on how to dress. However, the pair remembers well the instruction to resist, to not fight back and that one day the kids would have to lead. They also vividly recall the defining moments that led to their decision to actively join in the fight for freedom and justice.
By May 1963, the Civil Rights Movement had lost its momentum. Companies threatened to fire employees who were caught demonstrating. There had been 69 bombings in Birmingham, Alabama over the course of three weeks - including the bombing that killed four young girls during Sunday School at Sixteenth Street Baptist Church. . On May 2, 1963 (D-Day), a lieutenant of Dr. King, the Rev. James Bevel held a mass meeting and called for a peaceful march from the church to Birmingham’s City Hall. Unlike any other march, the children would be at the forefront and become known as the pivotal Children’s Crusade of 1963. At 16, Goosby was going to the mass meeting to see his friends from school and meet girls, but the bombings were a real threat of danger and his call to join in the protests.
“I was chosen to lead the group as a frontline protestor. I thought I was ready, but I froze at the sight of policeman armed with billy clubs and dogs waiting for us outside the church,” Mr. Goosby recalled. “Martin Luther King Jr. came and stood right beside me and said: ‘Straighten your backs up children. A man can’t ride your back unless it’s bent.’“ Mr. Goobsy continues, “I was on fire after that and Bull Connor wasn’t going to stop me from doing what I could do to help.”
Dogs and water hoses were unleashed on the kids. Mr. Goosby was arrested and taken to jail where he spent five days being interrogated by the police. “They wanted to know what school I went to and where my parents worked,” he said. “When I was able to call home, my mother said she knew where I was because she saw me on TV and that she was proud of me.”
At eight-years-old, Roby remembers the police beating the Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth with brass knuckles and the klan bombing his home on Christmas Eve in response to his attempt to have his children integrate Phillips High School in Birmingham. She recalls being in the car with her sisters when their uncle was pulled over by a police officer who held him at gunpoint and pulled the trigger at the uncle’s head. Luckily, they all walked away without injury. But she still recalls the police officers words to her uncle: “You’d be a dead nigger if this gun didn’t jam.” The windows to her mom’s home were blown out by the klan shortly after.
“We were afraid to march because if we did, employers were threatening to fire our parents from their jobs,” said Ms. Roby. " “But there was a day at school when firecrackers were thrown into a classroom and I remember thinking enough is enough. We were tired of being told what we couldn’t do and lost patience. “
A fearful Roby marched just one block from Mount Pilgrim Baptist Church before seeing her sister who was also marching. “I found comfort in knowing that I couldn’t get in trouble with our parents if we were together. “
On August 28, 1963, eight charter buses headed from Birmingham, Alabama to Washington D.C. to hear and support Dr. King who was the very last speaker of the day. The buses were stopped in Virginia and all occupants were asked to step off while state troopers searched. The group was let go. “I was afraid. I felt like my feet were in a wading pool and my tears were falling down my throat,” said Mr. Goosby.
Despite the intimidating setback, the group was able to find the silver lining. “It was illegal for Black kids to ride in the front of the bus back then,” Goosby said. “The kids who went to DC were so excitd to be on a bus full of Black people and we sang freedom songs the entire way.”
As another generation of relentless activists and community organizers marches at the nation’s Capital, Mr. Goosby and Ms. Roby share this advice, “Black lives have always mattered and they always will. The lives of others matter, too. But we need to make sure that we are at the negotiating table and that we are influential in the decision-making process of all industries.”
“Respectfully and nonviolently tell your stories everywhere, Ms. Roby added. “Me and Mr. Goosby promise to do the same.”
The dress code has changed, but the fight to defend our human rights continues. Power to the People!
