Birmingham remembers

I have mixed emotions as I begin my fourth and final day in Birmingham.  There are two sites I want to visit, and they are interrelated with each other.  I am curious to learn but hesitant as I know this was not the finest moment in our American history.

I park in the empty parking lot across the street from the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church. On the sidewalk is a two-sided marquee, which I begin reading. I pause several times through the reading trying to take it all in of what occurred here. At each pause, I find myself looking towards the church from different angles - the blue signage above my head, the basement windows and the large entrance steps. I walk up the steps and look through the window to only find darkness. I sit on the steps, reflecting on what happened here 59 years ago. Some would say that is a long time ago, but in this moment, I am processing the idea of only 59 years ago this was happening in the United States - extreme radical behavior of a group of people towards another group of people.

This church was the largest black church in Birmingham and served as a peaceful congregation place for civil rights activities. On September 15, 1963, a single action changed the course of history for this city. A box of explosives ripped through the walls, leaving 20 injured and 4 young girls dead. Violence surged throughout the city with an additional two deaths on the same day - a 16-year-old shot by police and a 13-year-old killed by local white youths. I sit still, saddened. Slowly I rise to my feet to walk to the nearby Kelly Ingram Park to learn more about this historic part of Birmingham.

The sidewalk weaves throughout the park with several large metal sculptures remembering the brutal activities which occurred here in the same year of 1963.  Birmingham was being labeled as America's most segregated city.  Every day the tension mounted towards the protestors. Police began releasing K9 German Shepards on the peaceful protestors.

Firemen blasted protestors with high pressure fire hoses.

At one point over 1,000 children, as young as six, were arrested for protesting. President Kennedy sent 3,000 Army troops. Persistency brought changes in Birmingham. Merchants removed "white only" signs. Diners desegregated lunch counters. A new mayor repealed discriminatory laws, opening public places to all. This park is Brimingham remembering the lives lost, the actions taken by students and the result of those brave young individuals.

I end this most emotionally charged day with this being my last photo - a closeup of Dr Martin Luther King Jr located at the corner of Kelly Ingram Park.