Category: Civil Rights
Birmingham Residents Reflect on 60th Anniversary of Church Bombing
At exactly 10:22 a.m. on Friday, church bells – and the shofar at Temple Beth-El synagogue – rang out across Birmingham to honor those killed in the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church. It’s the 60th anniversary of the deadly attack that killed four young girls — 11-year-old Denise McNair, Addie Mae Collins, Carole Robertson and Cynthia Wesley, all 14 — and injured dozens more.
Inside the historic church, a crowd heard a message from Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson.
Outside, small groups of people gathered all over the city to commemorate the anniversary and reflect on the violence of the past and the progress the community has made over the decades. Read more.
New Biography Examines King as a Person Over the Myth
Writer Jonathan Eig’s new biography of Martin Luther King Junior draws on thousands of pages of new documents and audio recordings to paint an intimate portrait of the civil rights leader. Read more.
60 Years Later, Kids Still March in Birmingham
Sixty years ago, thousands of children took to the streets in Birmingham to protest against racism and discrimination. On Friday, teens from around the city gathered to reenact this historic moment, known as the Children’s Crusade. Read more.
An Inside Look at an AP African American Studies Class
Civil Rights District Groups Get Nearly $2.7M in Support From JeffCo Commission
The Jefferson County Commission today approved $2,691,642 in federal ARPA funding to organizations in the Civil Rights District to improve civil rights tourism.
The $1.9 trillion economic stimulus bill was enacted to speed the country’s recovery from the economic and health effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Jefferson County determined that tourism had been affected by the pandemic. After their applications were vetted by consulting firm Witt O’Brien, 16th Street Baptist Church, Urban Impact Inc., Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame, St. Paul’s United Methodist Church and historic Bethel Baptist Church in Collegeville were allotted funds for unique projects. Read more.
‘Unreformed’ Podcast Tells the Largely Untold Story of an Abusive Alabama Reform School
A conversation with journalist and podcast host Josie Duffy Rice details the troubled history of the Alabama Industrial School for Negro Children, or Mt. Meigs. Read more.
Traveling Exhibit Goes ‘Deeper’ Into Emmett Till’s Story, Civil Rights History of Host Cities
The Birmingham Civil Rights Institute Celebrates 30 Years
For decades, the BCRI has educated everyone from local students to global leaders about Birmingham’s role in the Civil Rights movement. Read more.
Martin Luther King’s 1963 Birmingham arrest spurred a Supreme Court case. The ruling still matters.
The case is Walker v. City of Birmingham, which ruled on the legal principles that allowed Bull Conner and Birmingham to jail Martin Luther King Jr. on Good Friday, 1963. Harvard law professor Randall Kennedy explains why the case continues to influence legal thinking during these tumultuous times. Read more.
A New Mural, Shop at Birmingham’s Airport Pays Tribute to U.S. Civil Rights Trail
City and state leaders hope the mural gives visitors to Birmingham’s airport a memorable introduction to the city’s history within the civil rights movement. Read more.
