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Kids Make Good Things
Children only seem to be very small and passive, they actually have the strongest power inside, able to change things, to turn adults to thinking about their actions, to looking at our Planet through the children’s tears. We wanted to show very good and important examples of children’s activities, those stopped violence and cruelty!
The Children's Crusade
May 2, 1963: Children as young as six or seven set out with their
older brothers and sisters for a demonstration against the
segregationist policies of this deeply divided southern city.
In the early '60s, Birmingham, Alabama, was the Ku Klux Klan country.
Police commissioner, Eugene "Bull" Connor, was dedicated to preserving
the color line.
A black couple had been beaten for trying to enroll their children in a
whites-only school. The city chose to close its library, parks, and
pools rather than comply with court-ordered desegregation.
Dr. King's efforts to change the status quo were going nowhere in the
spring of '63. Сivil rights leaders planned a non-violent young people's
march intended to build support in Birmingham's black community and the
nation at large for the fight for freedom.
It was an important moment for the civil rights movement and our nation.
Yet sadly, most American children will observe Dr. King's birthday
without any understanding of the contributions children their own age
once made in the fight for social justice.
That's the bad news... The good news is that even without a historical
context, children's interest in community service, activism, and social
justice shows signs of resurgence.
New Generation of Activists
And so, as we prepare to celebrate Dr. King's birthday, we offer a
salute to youth activists who are contributing to the better life of
their communities.
We are sure, that Martin Luther King would be proud of young people
doing good for others, responsible for everything around them, trying to
do life better even in the age of market!
"Parents Can Learn From Kids." --Chris S., 11
I was just hanging out one day with some friends in our
neighborhood, when all of a sudden, someone driving by threw a soda can
out the window. It hit me in the head.
I thought: "If they keep doing this, it will make it impossible to play
in our street!"
We organized a group of 12 friends to start cleaning up our block and
promote recycling. It became a club, of sorts, with a mission. "We might
as well start doing good things now, rather than do them later," we
believe. "We kids are the largest group of activists in the world but
not that many grownups believe in kid power."
Being good means doing good things, and it is so easy to clean a little
piece of ground where you are standing at the moment, let’s love our
Planet!!! We are responsible for it!!!
"My Life Wouldn't Be Complete." --Lisa B., 17
It's not a glamourous job, to be sure. Every Sunday, I clean cages
at an animal shelter.
I really love animals. I just met a staff person one day who said they
needed volunteers and I started coming there.
When I first started, there was a 2-year-old cocker spaniel who was
brought in because she wasn't housebroken. She'd just sit in her cage
and cower in the corner. During my free time I would take her out and
brush her and give her special attention and tell her how great she was.
About two weeks later, she was adopted!
It was so good to see that my little friend got a family where she will
be loved, I was proud. It would be good if every kid could be kind and
think about surrounding things, not only about himself!!!
Love each other!!!