There was no historical precedent for Birmingham, Alabama, in April and May of 1963, when the power balance of a great nation turned not on clashing armies, or global commerce, but on the youngest student demonstrators of African descent, down to first and second graders. Only the literature of Passover ascribes such impact to the fate of minors. And never before was a country transformed, arguably redeemed, by the active moral witness of school children. Children who marched day after day from the csanctuary of black churches onto segregated streets to face hostile police, dogs, firehoses, and ultimately, jail.
I really like that.
From the preface of Taylor Branch's Pillar of Fire.
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