The Defiant One

The Defiant One. March Route to Retail. Rev. Bevel and his team worked with popular disc jockeys "Tall Paul” Dudley White and Shelley “The Playboy" Stewart, whose jive talk on the radio was actually a secret code that told young foot soldiers when it was time to "move out.” Despite objections from parents, teachers and principals, thousands of children left school - some climbing out of classroom windows and over fences - to rally at Sixteenth Street Baptist Church. At the church, Bevel and his team organized students into groups. After receiving instructions and an inspirational pep talk from Bevel, the children marched toward government buildings and retail stores downtown. , Paired marker , May 7, 1963 , Birmingham police arrest Parker High School student Mattie Howard near the Carver Theatre (look to your right, down 17th Street toward Fourth Avenue). Pictures of the defiant teen in her torn sweater are printed in publications around the country. She is one of hundreds of student foot soldiers who on this day join the marches to downtown. The media calls the marches "The Children's Crusade.” The sight of police attacking and arresting children on the streets of downtown Birmingham creates such dramatic tension and news footage that “Project C" picks up new energy and gains worldwide attention. , "The most important part of the movement was the self-esteem that it gave Black people." , Washington Booker, III , Former teenage foot soldier speaking as an adult, Lesson B7: Watch a movie about the American Civil Rights Movement and discuss it with friends.