16 S T O R Y W O R K S

Civil Rights Words When you read about a new subject, you need to learn new words to help you understand it. Keep an eye out for the words in bold, all about the civil rights movement.

Historical Fiction Play

During a dangerous time in America, two young girls joined the fight for freedom and equality By Mack Lewis

Stev

e Sh

apiro

/Cor

bis

The Girls Who Marched With Dr. King

Pigtails Protestsand

Historians 1, 2, and 3*Adult Sheyann*Adult Rachel*Narrators 1, 2, and 3* Sheyann Webb: an 8-year-old girl

* Rachel West: her 9-year- old friend

Reverend Hosea Williams: supporter of Dr. King Sheriff Jim Clark Chorus (the whole class can join in)Mrs. Webb: Sheyann’s motherMrs. Moore: a teacher

Police OfficerDr. Martin Luther King Jr. * Caption Reader: reads the photo captions

*Indicates large speaking role

CHARACTERS

UPCLOSE

Bob

Adel

man

/Mag

num

Pigtails Protests

PrologueHistorian 1: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was

a leader of the fight to end discrimination against African-Americans. This fight became known as the civil rights movement.

Adult Sheyann: We were just children when Dr. King came to our hometown of Selma, Alabama, in 1965.

Adult Rachel: Back then, things weren’t equal for African-Americans living in the South.

Adult Sheyann: We couldn’t go to the same schools as white kids.

Adult Rachel: We couldn’t swim in the same pools or eat at the same restaurants.

Adult Sheyann: And in places like Selma, African-Americans couldn’t even vote.

Historian 2: By law, African-Americans had the right to vote. But in the South, most were prevented from voting by unfair rules, bullying, and threats.

Historian 3: Voting gives people power. When someone votes in an election, he or she affects how government works.

Historian 1: Some white people didn’t want African-Americans to have that power.

Historian 2: Dr. King came to

Selma to protest against the cruel policies that blocked African-Americans from voting.

Scene 1January 19, 1965

Historian 3: Before Dr. King arrived in Selma, his supporters organized a protest. They wanted African-Americans to be allowed to register to vote.

Narrator 1: Three hundred people crowd the courthouse steps. Many are teenagers and kids, including Sheyann and Rachel.

Na rrator 2: Rachel points to the town’s dreaded sheriff. He is standing on the courthouse steps.

S C H O L A S T I C . C O M / S T O R Y W O R K S • J A N U A R Y 2 0 1 2 17

Freedom Fighters Sheyann (left) and Rachel pose with Dr. King. Opposite: It took marchers from Selma five days to reach Montgomery, Alabama’s capital city.

Rachel: That’s Sheriff Clark.Sheyann: He looks mean.Narrator 3: Reverend Hosea Williams, a civil

rights leader, is at the front of the crowd.Rev. Williams: Voting is our right, and we’re

not going to let you stop us anymore. Clark: The courthouse is closed! Go home and

quit blocking the sidewalk! Get!Narrator 1: Sheriff Clark stands there, glaring.Narrator 2: But then the crowd starts to sing.Chorus: We shall overcome / We shall overcome.Clark: Stop that now! Just cut that out, or I’m

gonna arrest every one of ya!Narrator 3: But no one stops singing. Narrator 1: Clark orders his men to arrest the

protesters. Narrator 2: The police shove the marchers

and hit them with sticks. But the protesters had been trained not to fight back. This was known as nonviolent protesting.

Narrator 3: Sixty people are put in jail. Sheyann and Rachel run home, terrified.

Scene 2January 19, 1965: Evening

Narrator 1: That night, Sheyann speaks with her mother.

Sheyann: Mama, have you tried to vote? Mrs. Webb: If I even tried, I’d probably lose my

job. Besides, what’s a girl like you worried about voting for?

Sheyann: Dr. King says if you can’t vote, you aren’t free. I want to join the protests!

Mrs. Webb: I’m sure he’s right, Shey. But I don’t want anything to happen to you! There’s no telling what Clark and his men will do!

Historian 1: Mrs. Webb was right to worry. Across the South, protesters had been badly beaten by police. Others had been murdered in their homes and even in their churches.

Narrator 2: That night, Sheyann lies in her bed, gripped by fear. She pictures Sheriff Clark’s men with their guns.

Narrator 3: But then she hears the sound of singing coming from the church.

Chorus: Oh, freedom / Oh, freedom / Oh, freedom over me! / And before I’ll be a slave / I’ll be buried in my grave / And go home to my Lord and be free.

Narrator 1: The music gives Sheyann strength.Adult Sheyann: Death was all around us

during the civil rights movement, but I was determined to keep fighting.

18 S T O R Y W O R K S

Right: Many of the “freedom fighters” who marched in Selma were kids. They risked beatings and jail in their fight for equality. Below: Sheriff Clark was just one of many white lawmen who attacked peaceful protesters.

Bettm

ann/

Corb

is; B

ruce

Dav

idso

n/M

agnu

m

Rev. Williams: If we don’t keep going, nothing will change! We will never be free!

Narrator 1: The girls hold hands. They walk with the crowd across the bridge.

Police Officer: Don’t go any farther. Rev. Williams: Sir, may we have a word?Police Officer: There’ll be no talkin’ today.

Turn around and go back. Now!Narrator 2: Williams turns toward the crowd.Rev. Williams: Kneel down and pray!Police Officer: Charge on them, men!Narrator 3: The troopers push into the crowd,

swinging their clubs. Mrs. Moore: Girls! Stay with me! Narrator 1: Police spray tear gas. Blinded and

gasping, the protesters scatter. Sheyann and Rachel are separated from Mrs. Moore.

Narrator 2: TV crews capture the violence: men on horses trampling protesters, troopers beating people with clubs, and people tumbling down the riverbank.

Sheyann: Rachel! Run!Narrator 3: The girls escape, but dozens of

people are seriously injured.Historian 1: This day came to be known as “Bloody Sunday.”

Scene 3 March 7, 1965: Bloody Sunday

Historian 2: After an African-American man was killed by police in a nearby town, Dr. King called for the biggest protest yet. This time, 600 marchers—black and white—gathered for a 50-mile march from Selma to Montgomery.

Historian 3: Sheriff Clark had made it known he would stop the marchers no matter what.

Narrator 2: Despite Sheyann’s mother’s worries, Sheyann and Rachel decide to join the march. They walk next to a teacher from their school, Mrs. Moore.

Sheyann: I’m scared, Mrs. Moore.Mrs. Moore: I understand. I’m scared too. Just

remember we are fighting for our freedom.Narrator 3: When they get to the middle of

the Edmund Pettus Bridge, the marchers see hundreds of police troopers on the other side with clubs and gas masks blocking their way.

Rachel: What will happen to us?Mrs. Moore (softly): Heaven help us.

Left: Protesters walk across the Edmund Pettus Bridge. Above: Officers armed with tear gas, sticks, and cattleprods wait at the other side of the bridge.

S C H O L A S T I C . C O M / S T O R Y W O R K S • J A N U A R Y 2 0 1 2 19

Stev

e Sh

apiro

/Cor

bis;

Flip

Sch

ulke

/Cor

bis

Scene 4 March 7, 1965: Night

Narrator 1: Later that night, Rachel and Sheyann join others at Brown Chapel.

Narrator 2: Hopelessness fills the air.

Rachel: It’s like we’re at our own funeral.

Narrator 3: But out of nowhere, someone starts humming.

Sheyann: You hear that? Narrator 1: Others hum along.Chorus: Ain’t gonna let nobody turn me ’round

/ turn me ’round / turn me ’round / Keep on a-walkin’ / Keep on a-talkin’/ Marching up to freedom land!

Narrator 2: Suddenly everyone is singing and clapping!

Rachel: I get the feeling this fight isn’t over after all, Sheyann.

Sheyann: They can break our bones, but they can’t break our spirits!

Scene 5 March 21, 1965

Historian 2: Americans were outraged by the violence they saw on TV. People around the country and the world rallied around Dr. King and the Selma marchers.

Narrator 3: Two weeks later, Dr. King comes to Selma. He will lead a five-day march to Montgomery. More than 3,000 people join him.

Narrator 1: Sheyann and Rachel are there for the first miles of the march.

Narrator 2: Dr. King spots the girls.Dr. King: Aren’t you tired?Sheyann: Our legs are tired, but our souls

still feel like marching. It seems like we’re

20 S T O R Y W O R K S

marching to freedom today.Dr. King: Well, we’re very glad to have you.Adult Rachel: From his smile we could tell how

proud he was of us. He touched us on our heads and went on down the road.

Epilogue Historian 3: On day five of the march, 30,000

people joined the marchers to hear Dr. King speak in front of the capitol building in Montgomery.

Dr. King: Today I want to tell the people of America that we are not about to turn around. We are on the move now . . . We are moving to the land of freedom.

Narrator 3: Sheyann stands smiling among the thousands. Her parents had decided to drive to Montgomery for the occasion. They all join in song.

Chorus: This little light of mine, I’m going to let it shine . . . let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.

Historian 1: Five months later, President Lyndon Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act. It ended the unfair rules that stopped African-Americans from registering to vote.

Historian 2: Sheyann and Rachel, along with all their fellow freedom fighters, had won.

Protesters of all ages sing together at Brown Chapel, where Sheyann and Rachel first heard Dr. King speak.

Flip

Sch

ulke

/Cor

bis