Momma Letter of Civil Rights

Momma,

Don't be mad I really can explain. I know you are worried about me, but I am o.k. I will be home soon. Momma, you taught me not to be selfish, and marching was the most unselfish thing I could have done. I marched so one day we can be free from hatred and violence. I marched so one day we can be free like all the white kids, free to eat the fancy restaurant, free to learn from new books, and free to wear new uniforms. Momma Martin Luther King is going to change this world, and I want to there when he does. I'm doing more than just marching I'm fighting for my freedom, I'm learning how to treat people fairly I'm singing for faith and hope in our hearts. Momma I want to live free, I don't want to see whites only sign when I need to use the restroom, or when I am thirsty, or when I am hungry. I will march until I am free.

I marched because it's not fair that I can't walk down the road without getting called racist names, without worrying about bumping into the wrong white person who could beat or kill me. Momma, I am walking for Emmett Till. I am marching so you never feel like Emmet Till's momma. I only regret you can't march with me. I always feel like nothing can happen to me when you're around, you make me feel safe when I can reach out and your there, but this march momma is so that I can feel safe in my home, my yard, my neighborhood, and my town. We live in the scariest city for a Negro to live in. Everyday we worry about the Ku Klux Klan coming into our home, destroying our lives because we can't run from the home that is burning and take the chance to be killed or we burn alive in a home that will never and has never been safe. Everyday knowing the police do nothing for a colored people, knowing that we will never be safe in Birmingham, Alabama. Momma I don't only fear my life when I march and sing I fear my life every hour of everyday.

We are kids, but we are marching because we know that our parents can't because if you march you will loose your jobs and then you can't feed us. I know your mad but don't be I wanted to listen and not go but I feel it in my heart that this march will mean something to the civil rights movement for us Negroes. Momma nothing has ever meant