Birmingham campaign

===Recruiting students===
Despite the publicity surrounding King's arrest, the campaign was faltering because few demonstrators were willing to risk arrest.<ref>McWhorter, p.&nbsp;357.</ref> In addition, although Connor had used police dogs to assist in the arrest of demonstrators, this did not attract the media attention that organizers had hoped for.<ref>Eskew, pp.&nbsp;227–228.</ref> To re-energize the campaign, SCLC organizer [[James Bevel]] devised a controversial alternative plan he named D Day that was later called the "Children's Crusade" by ''[[Newsweek]]'' magazine.<ref name="newsweek5-13">
{{cite journal
|title=Birmingham USA: Look at Them Run
|journal=[[Newsweek]]
|date=1963-05-13
|pages=27}} The term "Children's Crusade" has a notable history, originating from the 1212 [[Children's Crusade]].</ref> D Day called for students from Birmingham elementary schools and high schools as well as nearby [[Miles College]] to take part in the demonstrations.

Bevel, a veteran of earlier nonviolent student protests with the [[Nashville Student Movement]] and SNCC, had been named SCLC's Director of Direct Action and Nonviolent Education. After initiating the idea he organized and educated the students in nonviolence tactics and philosophy. King hesitated to approve the use of children,<ref>McWhorter, p.&nbsp;364.</ref> but Bevel believed that children were appropriate for the demonstrations because jail time for them would not hurt families economically as much as the loss of a working parent. He also saw that adults in the black community were divided about how much support to give the protests.  Bevel and the organizers knew that high school students were a more cohesive group; they had been together as classmates since kindergarten. He recruited girls who were school leaders and boys who were athletes. Bevel found girls more receptive to his ideas because they had less experience as victims of white violence. When the girls joined, however, the boys were close behind.<ref>Hampton, pp.&nbsp;131–132.</ref>

Bevel and the SCLC held workshops to help students overcome their fear of dogs and jails. They showed films of the [[Nashville sit-ins]] organized in 1960 to end segregation at public lunch counters.  Birmingham's black radio station, [[WENN (AM)|WENN]], supported the new plan by telling students to arrive at the demonstration meeting place with a toothbrush to be used in jail.<ref>McWhorter, pp.&nbsp;360, 366.</ref> Flyers were distributed in black schools and neighborhoods that said, "Fight for freedom first then go to school" and "It's up to you to free our teachers, our parents, yourself, and our country."<ref name="nyt5-7-63">
{{cite news
|last=Sitton
|first=Claude
|title=Birmingham Jails 1,000 More Negroes; Waves of Chanting Students Seized
|work=[[The New York Times]]
|date=1963-05-07
|page=1}}</ref>