Category: Our Culture
New Opera Delves Into Less Familiar Part of Helen Keller’s Story
The opera “Touch,” commissioned by Opera Birmingham, depicts Keller’s later life as an activist and feminist and her conflict with her interpreter, Anne Sullivan. Read more.
MLK Day is Monday. In Alabama and Mississippi, it’s also Robert E. Lee Day.
The leader of the Civil Rights Movement and a commander of the Confederate army both are honored on the same day. Not everyone is happy about that. Read more.
Remembering a Murdered Birmingham Priest for His Faith and Courage
This week marks 100 years since Father James Coyle was murdered in broad daylight in downtown Birmingham hours after he secretly married an interracial couple. He’s remembered for his faith and courage during a time of religious intolerance, racism and xenophobia. Read more.
Lighting Up the Night Again
The neon sign for the historic A.G. Gaston Motel was lit Tuesday night in a ceremony marking the end of phase 1 of the site’s restoration. Birmingham Mayor Randall L. Woodfin attended along with representatives from the city and the National Park Service. “The A.G. Gaston motel sign served as a beacon to black families traveling through the segregated South,” Woodfin said. “It’s a sign that will now shine in remembrance of Dr. A.G. Gaston’s legacy – a legacy of black prosperity, equal opportunity, Southern hospitality and freedom.” The motel was used frequently by civil rights leaders such as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. as they strategized their campaigns against injustice. Restoration of the 1958 wing of the hotel has been completed. Work to restore the 1968 wing and courtyard is next, with a projected completion date of June 2022. (Photo from City of Birmingham Facebook video)
Family, Faith and Race Collide in Columnist John Archibald’s New Book
In the iconic “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote of his disappointment with white clergy who opposed the Civil Rights Movement. Alabama Media Group columnist and Pulitzer Prize winner John Archibald came to love that document, which was dated 11 days after his birth, for its clear message against injustice.
But the letter contains another layer: Archibald’s late father was a Methodist minister in Alabama whose career spanned the turbulent 1960s. He wondered what his dad said about race from the pulpit during those times. So he combed through two filing cabinets that contained every sermon his dad delivered. Read more.
Remembering Sheila Washington, Who Brought Honor To The Scottsboro Boys
Alabamians are mourning the death of Sheila Washington, the founder of the Scottsboro Boys Museum and Cultural Center. Washington fought to bring honor and dignity to the nine young Black males falsely accused of rape during the Jim Crow era.
As a child, Washington was fascinated with the story of the Scottsboro boys who ranged in age from 12-19. They were traveling by train through Jackson County when they were accused of raping two women. The 1931 trial drew national attention. An all-white jury in Scottsboro sentenced eight of the nine to death.
Later, the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments in the case leading to two landmark civil rights precedents regarding the right to counsel and non-discrimination in jury selection.
Read more.
One Black Artist’s Quest to Shake Up the Comics World
Lashawn Colvin recently opened her very own comic book store in Montgomery, becoming the first known Black woman in the South to do so.
