Transcript for Heather Booth Student Phone Interview Interviewer: Before we begin, we just want to make sure that

we have permission to record this interview, if that is okay with you. Booth: Sure. Interviewer: How exactly were you involved in the Civil Rights Movement? Booth: Um, its hard to mark the exact time that I got involved because there are actually incidents of standing up for civil rights even from when I was in first grade. But probably most significantly in 1960, when I was fifteen. I began to support the sit-ins, where African Americans were not allowed to sit at lunch counters. I joined a group called CORE (Congress on Racial Equality) and was very active in that. From those efforts, in 1963, I went to college at the University of Chicago and set up a Friends of SNCC chapter (Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee). It was the grass-root, front-line branch of the Civil Rights Movement. And from there, in 1964, I went to Mississippi with the Mississippi Freedom Summer Project which was set up to draw the eyes of the nation to the abuse and lack of voting rights that African Americans had in the state. Interviewer: As you were just a young adult Im sure this question is particularly important to you. Do you believe the involvement of children changed the Civil Rights Movement? Booth: Um, I thought it was particularly important and happened for several reasons. For one thing, young people are often more willing to take greater risks than older people who have jobs and families to support. Some older people who had been in a culture of such intimidation that it was difficult to take action. There was a new generation, where by the mid-60s, half the young adult population was in college. For one thing, it meant that young people were no longer directly under their parents guidance. Secondly, they were introduced to new ideas. Thirdly, suddenly people found that, for African Americans, they were getting a good education, yet they still could not sit at those lunch-counters or ride on those buses. But many were willing to take more risks. A larger number of young people, without the obligation of family and jobs, were willing to take additional risks in larger numbers. There were more of them who could then socialize with each other at college, so it was an easier way to recruit. They developed an adult part of most movements in the 1960s and a youth part. Then, young people said they wanted to be involved. In wanting to be involved, there was a whole new population to recruit. Even if parents were frightened, it did mean that the dramatic picture of young people willing to march and be arrested was in itself, pretty shocking. And so where there was a Childrens March, it really helped to galvanize national and public attention.

Interviewer: Do you believe media transformed the movement in 1963? Booth: Well, that was critically important. In the 1950s, the method of communication was newspaper and radio. Television was just starting. By the 1960s, most homes had televisions. To see the pictures of dogs, German Sheppard, biting people and teenagers, it was so shocking that people would see it and say, Well this isnt the America I know. This isnt how America should be. And so, it again provided a great motivation for change. Interviewer: Although you participated in Chicago and Mississippi, do you believe the events throughout 1963, specifically in Birmingham, can be considered a turning point in history? Booth: Sure. There were a number of moments that just catapulted things on. If you say, well when was it, you can go back to the Scottsboro Boys being charged with rape of a white women, or Emmett Till, a young teenager from Chicago who was lynched in Mississippi. But Birmingham took the country by storm both with the non-violent, civil disobedience, the mass protests by bus passengers, and organized response by the black community. It was a new phenomenon on a larger scale. Interviewer: How did the movement change the views and power of politicians? Booth: Um, well it depends on which politicians. For police chiefs and elected officials who believed their job and position depending on preserving segregation and keeping African Americans down, for them, the Civil Rights Movement largely moved them to dig in and you know, whether Bull Connor or others, it led some to dig in, at least for the first year. After time passed, I do think that even segregationists began to reevaluate their position, as they saw an integrated society could work and especially as they saw there was a political shift. For those in the African American community, I think it enabled people to say, Boy, if those people in Birmingham can stand up, sit down, or do a boycott, then maybe I can too. It led to this movement phenomenon, where it wasnt just organized by one person or another, but people said I will take it upon myself to move and take action in the Civil Rights Movement. It wasnt everyone but it meant that there was more freedom of movement. In the north, it did increase the number of people who wanted to act out for civil rights. I just would like to add that the main lesson of the Civil Rights Movement is that if you organize, you can change the world, but only if you organize can you really change the world. I hope that with your interest in this subject, you can move from studying history to making history. There are so many people and movements out there who need your support. If I can ever be of any help, feel free to stay in touch.