Culture

Calls Continue Urging President Biden to Honor ‘Drum Major for Justice,’ Fred Gray Sr.

Even during a pandemic, you can find 90-year-old Fred Gray Sr. at his law office in Tuskegee. He’s been fully vaccinated against COVID-19. “He’s still working every day,” Fred Gray Jr. said. “It is not because he has to, but it’s because it’s that fire in his belly and it’s because he still wants to help people.” Gray Jr. and his dad are partners in their law firm. Gray Jr. said his dad just won’t slow down. In fact he’s currently working on behalf of the Macon County Commission to remove a confederate monument in the heart of downtown Tuskegee. Gray Jr. said his dad’s drive and tenacity are only part of the reason he should be awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor.  “His IQ and his work is right up there with men like Thurgood Marshall, Oliver Hill and Wiley Branton,” he said. Read more.

by Janae Pierre, WBHM

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)

by BirminghamWatch

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.

by Andrew Yeager, WBHM

Remembering Homewood Resident And Civil Rights Activist Eileen Walbert

Alabamians are mourning the death of lifelong civil rights activist Eileen Walbert, a white woman who made fighting for racial equality her life’s work. She and her husband Jim moved to Homewood in the late 40s. Born in Virginia in 1920, Walbert was aware of the racial tensions between Blacks and whites but moving to the deep south was different.  “She didn’t see the swastikas when she arrived here, but she saw the colored and white signs which represented the swastikas,” said historian Horace Huntley. Huntley, former leader of the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute’s oral history project, said Walbert was determined to challenge the racial inequalities of Birmingham and her Homewood neighborhood.  Walbert and her husband befriended a couple who were refugees from Europe during World War II. Soon after, the couple introduced the Walbert’s to the Civil Rights Movement.  Read more.

by Janae PIerre, WBHM

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.

by Janae PIerre, WBHM

Alabama is Home to 20 Hate Groups, 838 Operate Nationwide, SPLC Says

The Southern Poverty Law Center released its annual list of hate groups nationwide Feb. 1, and while the number of groups has gone down from last year, there are still 20 Alabama groups that made the cut. Altogether, the SPLC tracked 830 organizations defined as hate groups in 2020. “The number is a barometer, albeit only one, of the level of hate activity in the country,” the website says. Read more.

by Nick Patterson

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.

by Janae Pierre, WBHM

Proposed Center for Birmingham’s Civil Rights District Draws Skepticism

Part of Birmingham’s identity was forged by the civil rights movement. A proposed development would build on that history through an internationally-recognized leadership center. The Global Forum for Freedom and Justice would be a major addition to the Birmingham Civil Rights District. The $40 million proposal is the brainchild of Washington, D.C. philanthropist Wayne Reynolds, and it’s generating skepticism in some parts of the community. WBHM’s Andrew Yeager spoke with Birmingham Business Journal editor Ty West about the plans. Read more.

by Andrew Yeager, WBHM

FBI Records Could Have Solved A Civil Rights Cold Case. Now It’s Too Late

The murder of the Rev. James Reeb was unsolved for more than 50 years. Then last month, using the FBI’s case file, NPR identified a man who had participated in the attack on Reeb but was never arrested or charged. William Portwood died less than two weeks after reporters Andrew Beck Grace and Chip Brantley confirmed his involvement. At 87, Portwood was the last living person who could have been held to account for Reeb’s murder. Now, Alabama officials who might have pursued prosecution tell NPR that if the FBI had shared its case file with them, they would have investigated Reeb’s murder years earlier. It’s impossible to say whether state and local officials would have been able to close the case. The Boston minister was killed during the 1965 voting rights campaign in Selma, Ala., and three men were tried for and acquitted of the crime. And the FBI has failed to solve Reeb’s murder twice: once in 1965, and a second time in 2008, when it reopened the case as part of its Cold Case Initiative. Read more.

by CAT SCHUKNECHT, NPR

A Friendly Homecoming for Activist Angela Davis

Civil right activist Angela Davis’ life and work took center stage at Boutwell Auditorium in Birmingham Saturday evening. The receptive crowd frequently applauded and cheered Davis. Some audience members raised their fists. But the celebration of the Birmingham native is not the one many anticipated just six weeks ago. Last fall, the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute awarded Davis the 2018 Fred Shuttlesworth Human Rights Award, but then revoked it January 3rd, saying Davis did not “meet all of the criteria on which the award is based.” The statement did not specify any criteria. Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin, an ex-officio member of the institute’s board, said in a statement at the time the decision was made “after protests from some members of the community, Jewish and otherwise.” Davis is a vocal critic of the Israeli government’s policies toward Palestinians and supports the movement to boycott Israel. The move provoked a wave of public criticism. Three board members resigned. Less than two weeks later, the board reversed its decision and re-extended the award to Davis. She has not said if she would accept it. Read more.

by Andrew Yeager, WBHM