SAMPLE PROGRAM: THE CHILDREN'S CRUSADE
Her portrait of the Children's Crusade is based on an actual event that occurred during the Civil Rights struggle of the late 1950's and early 1960's. Tiana Marquez personalizes and dramatizes this historical event, seen through the eyes of a child participating in the historic struggle for equal rights for all Americans. The child saw some of the inequalities of the day; African-Americans particularly in the South had to use their own restrooms, water fountains, and schools. These segregated facilities often were inferior to those available to white society. Society was segregated according to racial lines, with signs indicating which facilities were for "colored" or for "white." Woe to anyone who tried to change this system.
Despite the danger, a movement began that was to change the course of American history. Names of people prominent in this movement include the late Ms. Rosa Parks of Montgomery, Alabama, and Dr. Martin Luther King. Black people systematically tested the limits of the racial divide in society, and were met with hatred, bigotry, arrest, or even physical injury and death. Out of this dangerous and important movement, the Children's Crusade shows the dedication to change of a broad spectrum of the African-American community, even including the children.