I Ascend: God’s been using you, even from childhood to be a part of greater works. Tell us about your experience, as you can recollect it, of being with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Mother Rogers: Well, I met Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., in 1962. We participated, in the boycott that took place in Montgomery, Alabama. When Dr. King came to Birmingham, he asked the question “What are you going to do about the way you’re being treated?” “What are you going to do about the schools? We were not considered to be good enough to be with the Caucasians at that time, and education, was something that we thrived on, because that’s all we had to depend on. We had teachers that were very educated, and they instilled in us, don’t stop learning, don’t stop doing and believing. That is one of the reasons I joined the organization. I was 13 years old when I joined. Mrs. Coretta King, his wife would talk to the young ladies while Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. did more talking to the young men. They taught us how to govern ourselves, too not respond in anger, because the movement was all about non-violence.

I Ascend: Were you a part of some of the walks, or actual sit downs at counters? Or was what you were a part of a bit different.
Mother Rogers: We were doing something a little bit different because our first sit down was in North Carolina, and then there was the one in Birmingham, Alabama, so each organization in each state had something going on different. When we got together as a group, different states came together, we met the others, and everybody participated. We were being taught to hold our anger, and to not allow the word nigger, baboons, and stuff that they used to call us affect us.
Mrs. Coretta King would always tell the young ladies, we are queens, and we should not be walking out in the streets, somewhere with hair rollers in our hair, and no shoes on our feet. Mrs. King said “You dress because you’re queens.”” If you want to represent God, dress like you represent God and that you are His Child.” These are some of the things that were taught in our meetings.

I Ascend: Would you say things have changed in America since then Mother Rogers?
Mother Rogers: I’ve seen some things that have changed. Like, transportation, you can get various jobs now. Back then, they called them high-class Jobs which was only for the high-class people. We weren’t considered high class. I can remember a time when I was about eight years old, my father was driving.He liked to wear what they called, knickerbockers, little shorts that you wear. In the summertime, it’s hot in Alabama, the heat feels like, one hundred twenty degrees. The cars back then didn’t have any air conditioning, so my father stopped at this little store on the side of the road, to get us some juice to drink. Once he got back in the car and drove off, we looked in the rear-view mirror and it was the highway patrol behind us. My father had his license and he pulled over, and the officer pulled out. That officer got out his car with his gun already drawn. The officer gets up to my father’s car window and says, “Boy do you know what I stopped you for?” My father didn’t answer. He said boy again and he still doesn’t answer. However,So, the third time he said “Boy” my father said if you see a boy jump on it. That officer got mad and then he told my father to get out of the car. That was a big mistake because my father was seven feet six inches tall, okay, he was a big man, and he had been in the service. I remember as my father stepped out of the car, that officer had to lean back to try to see him, because he was so tall. That officer changed his tune he didn’t say another word to my father, except get back in your car. My father said you have to stand up for what you believe in. I shared that story to show you they would call men “Boy” to humiliate their manhood because they considered us to be low class.
I thank God for being in the movement because it taught me more about people. When we first got started, there were no Caucasians marching with us. We were all black. In 1963 they called for the Children to march, Altogether it was over three thousand of us. When we started marching, they told us the fire department was out there and the police. They told us if we did not want to go out there or were afraid to, no one in the organization would think badly of us. We understood Dr. King’s non-violent ideals and instructions. Mr. Julian Bond stood up, then, explained, and showed us what to do. He told us not to try and fight the water from the firehoses, but for us to just sit down on the ground. He said, if we could put both hands over our ears. The water pressure from those hoses had the capacity to bust your eardrums. That is what we were instructed to do, Just sit down as the water pushed us down the street. Once we did that, we would get up and then the next set of us would come out and so on, as we continued singing.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. asked us while we were still in the church, to stay in jail as long as you can. That way they wouldn’t have any room, to put anybody else in. We went forth and marched and they did put us in jail and held us. I have pictures where we were sitting down on sidewalks and the water hoses were pointed on us and our hands were over our ears. I have photographs where they caught me and two young men, and pinned us up against the building, as they continued to water hose us down, but we never stopped singing. The fact that we continued to sing was very irritating to them. I thank God that we did it, I’m not sad about it. I’m happy, I felt that it was something I had to do. Not only for me, but for my family and future generations. When they took us to jail, they handcuffed us. They didn’t care about us being kids, littles girls, boys or anything like that. We were treated very badly. We did not stop though, we continued to march and more of us came out until they didn’t have anywhere to put us.
When the first kids went to jail, they put us in what they call the paddy wagon. They put us in the city jail which was on Sixth Avenue South in Birmingham. One of my friends named, Thomas, they beat him, he pushed me out of the way, so they beat him instead of me. I have photographs of him being, beaten and you can see a black German Shepherd Dog. They took us from the city jail to juvenile. When we got to Juvenile, they said they had no room. They then took us back downtown to the city jail. They were so determined to keep us that they took some of the people they had in the city jail and sent them somewhere else out of the city to put us in the cells.

I Ascend: Oh my goodness, I can visualize it.

Mother Rogers: We were packed in cells, it was like a long corridor and it had one bathroom in there. In one cell they were placing girls and boys together. Finally, they changed it up and put the boys in another cell. But it was 3000 of us all together that was arrested in different sections. Some were placed in what they called the sweat box because they wanted us to stop singing, it was irritating them something bad. They would come to the cell and get some of us out, they couldn’t get them all out. The space wasn’t big enough, they would squeeze 10 of us in that box, mash them together, and you couldn’t even turn them around. They put a padlock on the outside of it and it had three holes at the top that they would pour water down into. They would make the one’s placed in that cell stay down in there until they passed out. Only then, would they unlock it and drag them back to the other cell.
Robert Kennedy was told that they had expelled all of us from school, so he came down with the National Guard and to the jail. When he came to the jail cell, he asked, “How are you all being treated?” We were not being treated nicely. They gave us dog food with some potatoes cut up and tried to tell us it was hash. I told them I’m not eating it. I don’t eat Hash today because of that. Then they brought us some chicken with blood running out of it. I wouldn’t eat that either. I had been in the jail now going on two weeks. Now, getting back to Robert Kennedy, He told Conner at that jail ”if you don’t get these children out of this place where you got hardened criminals you won’t be over nothing, not even over the moon” that’s what he told him. Then he went down to Montgomery to Judge Gala to make him reinstate us back in school and make sure nothing happened to us. Then the National Guards came into the cells to get us but before they did, they took mug shots of us and had the dog the black dog I was telling you about. The dog was named Nigga and a Lieutenant told him to watch us and he justsat there growling at us. They took us down to the Alabama fairgrounds. It was a big building and had different floors on it and they put army cots in there for us. They put the boys on one floor and the girls on another. Many of us refused to eat. At times my stomach would growl, I would just drink some water to fill myself up. So finally, there was no room for us in there either, they start calling the parents to come and get us. They were trying to make our parents pay $2,500.00 for each child that was in jail, they were trying to break up the organization finances, but it didn’t work. We continued to do whatever we had to do.

I Ascend: February is Black History Month, can you tell our readers about the importance of history and learning from it?
Mother Rogers: Oh, it is very important. It’s important because if you don’t know your history, and you don’t know where you came from, how do you know where you are going? If you don’t learn it people will tell you anything.
I Ascend: What do you want people to remember most about you?
Mother Rogers: I want them to know that I believe God, I trust God and I will do anything the Lord, tell me to do. I want them to remember I loved people.

I Ascend: What word of advice would you give to our readers, to have them to continue to ascend in pursuit of their dreams, no matter where they are currently?
Mother Rogers: I would encourage them to get all the education they can get. I would tell them to put God first. God holds our future He knows our past, and can help you in all types of situations no matter what it is.

I Ascend: Can you share some of the awards you’ve won and the projects you’re working on now so people can continue to follow and know what’s happening with you?
Mother Rogers: I still go to the local schools to teach, at city hall downtown Cleveland, OH and the city hall in Woodmere. I have taught in various places even police stations. I have an award that was given to me last year it’s from the Nobles Civil Rights Movement and is dedicated to me in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy. I also received the Village Award, because I try to help everybody in the neighborhood, the Bible said, love thy neighbor as thyself. I also get people to register to vote.

I Ascend: Mother Rogers I want to just say thank you so very much for this opportunity to interview you on this subject matter. What email address can individuals reach you at if they would like to have you come out and speak at their events?
Mother Rogers: They can forward any inquiries to y email address: JuliaBellRogers@yahoo.com