Sheyann Webb
| Sheyann Webb | |
|---|---|
| Born |
February 17, 1956 Alabama, United States |
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "Smallest Freedom Fighter" and co-author of the book, Selma, Lord, Selma. As a nine-year-old, Sheyann Webb-Christburg took part in the first attempted Selma to Montgomery march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge on March 7, 1965, known as Bloody Sunday.
Sheyann was born on February 17, 1956, in Selma, Alabama to John and Betty Webb. She grew up in a family of eight children. She attended the segregated public schools of Dallas County, Alabama. In her junior high years she was one of the first black children to integrate an all-white school. Sheyann says that her junior high years were the most horrific. She was pushed down stairs, called bad names, suspended from school, and spit on, but nothing was done by the school administration. One day nine-year-old Sheyann and her friend Rachel were playing outside when they noticed a car drive up at Brown Chapel A.M.E. Church with several nicely dressed Negro men.
They walked over to the car not knowing who was in the car and they were introduced to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. They were told that Dr. King had come to Selma, Alabama to help the Negro people get voting rights.
Each night when mass meeting were held at the church, Sheyann would sneak out of her house to attend the meetings. She would also lead the congregation in singing freedom songs. Her favorite freedom song was "Ain't Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Around".
Sheyann became so involved with the Selma movement that she began skipping school to attend the demonstrations. Despite warnings from her parents she continued to skip school.
Sheyann learned many things from Dr. King. He taught her and Rachel "Children what do you want, your answer should be freedom." He also taught her that no matter what the color of your skin is you should treat everybody right and children also had a battle to fight.
There were many demonstrations held in Selma when African Americans tried to register to vote. They were only allowed two days out of the month to register. Most of the time it was unsuccessful because they were given a literacy test that was very difficult to pass; this kept them from registering.
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