Civil rights activist, who marched in Selma, says racism at “all-time high”

“Smallest freedom fighter” was
eight during King, Jr., march

She may have been the youngest person to take part in the Selma civil rights march of 1965.

Over 50 years later, Sheyann Webb-Christburg is now a civil rights activist and, speaking at the Viterbo University on Monday night, she told the audience she believes racism seems to be at “an all-time high.”

She, however still supports movement toward a positive change.

“That’s one of the things that I try to instill in young people every where that I go,” Webb-Christburg said “the importance of dialogues where you can respect each other’s opinion, and ultimately, with hopes that it will bring togetherness.”

Webb-Christburg was just 8 years old when she took part in the Selma march and met Martin Luther King Jr., who called her the smallest freedom fighter. She went to the march doing so against her parents’ wishes.

“Al I knew, at that particular time, was that I wanted to be a part of it, never knowing that it would be of historical value in any way,” she said. “But I am so glad that I had made up in my mind, being that disobedient child, to make the decision as I did as that child.”