Tag: civil rights
How Birmingham Reflects an Entwined Struggle for Civil and Labor Rights
Movements for civil rights and workers’ rights often intersect. But many times the labor part of the picture is overlooked. That’s the case in Birmingham, which is well known for its civil rights history. Read more.
Givan to MLK Unity Breakfast: Focus Needs to Be on Voters, Poverty-Stricken Communities to Reach King’s Dream
Alabama House Rep. Juandalynn Givan, D-Birmingham, told a packed Great Hall at Birmingham-Southern College that there is work to do to fulfill the dream of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
“Not only is our Black history under attack, but our most fundamental right that is allowed to us under the Constitution – our right to vote – is under attack,” Givan said at the 38th annual Unity Breakfast in celebration of the slain civil rights leader. “But I say to you, they don’t have to take it because we don’t utilize it.” 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.
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.
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
‘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.
