Today we had the opportunity to explore the city of Birmingham, known as the most segregated city in the South, and once known as "Bombingham" because of the high numbers of race related bombings. While in Birmingham, I had the chance to visit the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, Kelly Ingram Park, and the 16th Street Baptist Church. I also shared ice cream with an inner city middle school teacher from the Birmingham city district was given tons of qualitative education insight on life and learning here, 50-60 years after the Civil Rights Movement.
The Birmingham Civil Rights Institute (BCRI) was a unique museum experience that walked visitors through time periods before, during, and after the Civil Rights Movement. I gained a lot of knowledge specifically about Birmingham's involvement in the movement, as well as its leaders like Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth. I was struck by the way that Birmingham really signaled a change in the movement, and the way that the media coverage of the intense brutality helped create a tide of positive pressure from around the country and around the globe. Kennedy's Civil Rights Act followed shortly the events in Birmingham. This is yet another significant place, both a haunting reminder of humanity's ability to be cruel, and a triumphant reminder of humanity's ability to rise above, to forgive, to be courageous and enact change.
On the second floor of the museum, one can look across to the 16th St. Baptist Church, where four little girls were killed in a KKK bombing while getting ready for church on Sunday morning.
Out the windows on another side of the building, Kelly Ingram park fills the view. It was here that thousands of children and young people were involved in the Children's Crusade - marching for their rights, and subsequently, filling the jails. At one point, 10 children were arrested every minute, and the police had to use school buses to cart away all of the children. Can you imagine the bravery of the young people (some as young as six!), and the parents of these children? It is powerful! It is also in this park that public safety commissioner "Bull" Connors set police dogs and fire hoses on the peacefully protesting young people.
Today, the park is filled with statues and monuments to the movement. One particularly vivid piece of art has metal dogs "jumping" out at visitors as they walk a path through the center of the artwork. While we visited, a child and her mother were also working their way through the park. The mother walked through the channel between the dogs, but the little girl stayed behind, afraid. When her mother called her to come, she quickly ran through - clearly terrified. This image will stick with me for a long time - I can only imagine how much more terrifying the real thing must have been, yet I'm awed by the young people who faced it. As in South Africa, I am amazed by the power of people both young and old!
It was also in Birmingham were Dr. King wrote his famous "Letter from a Birmingham Jail," in response to the clergy who wrote in the local newspaper that King's actions were unwise and poorly timed. This is a powerful response, and I loved the experience of having this letter read as I stood outside of a jail cell replica in the museum. If you haven't read this powerful letter, check it out here.
The start of the BCRI museum, visitors walk through a well done gallery showing the lives of black communities before the civil rights movement. Though very separate, and inherently less privileged, the gallery showed bits of life in the tight knit black communities of the South. The gallery ends with a quote on the wall, explaining how separate never can be equal - as the Brown v. Board of Education case proved in 1954 . This really struck me as I spoke with the Birmingham teacher who I had the chance to meet with in the afternoon. Though legalized school segregation was struck down sixty years ago, segregation is still alive and well in Birmingham schools. Because of neighborhood zoning and the creation of mini districts suburban neighborhoods, schools are hardly integrated. The teacher with whom I spoke teaches in school made up of almost entirely African American students, with 100% receiving free and reduced lunch, while "over the mountain," diverse schools with higher populations of white and international students are nestled into suburban neighborhoods. This teacher shared of the many struggles facing the urban school system in Birmingham, from higher class sizes, to inadequate housing, from families with barriers to being involved in school to kids who have many more responsibilities outside of school than their counterparts in suburban areas. Although she said there is no shortage of "stuff," (technology, furniture, etc), she feels that there is a lack of community involvement. Though many her students are the grandchildren of the Children's Crusade marchers, this teacher feels that something has been lost in the time since the Civil Rights movement, and many of the teachers at her school actually feel that issues in education may be in poorer shape now than ever. Clearly, there are many, many struggles that young children in the city of Birmingham still face.
I finished the day with some classic southern BBQ, and I think my hair still smells like ribs! :-) Although this vegetarian settled on a baked potato the size of my head, those I ate with savored the finger licking good sauces and meats! Then, off to Montgomery and the next stop on this pilgrimage!
~emily~
The Birmingham Civil Rights Institute (BCRI) was a unique museum experience that walked visitors through time periods before, during, and after the Civil Rights Movement. I gained a lot of knowledge specifically about Birmingham's involvement in the movement, as well as its leaders like Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth. I was struck by the way that Birmingham really signaled a change in the movement, and the way that the media coverage of the intense brutality helped create a tide of positive pressure from around the country and around the globe. Kennedy's Civil Rights Act followed shortly the events in Birmingham. This is yet another significant place, both a haunting reminder of humanity's ability to be cruel, and a triumphant reminder of humanity's ability to rise above, to forgive, to be courageous and enact change.
On the second floor of the museum, one can look across to the 16th St. Baptist Church, where four little girls were killed in a KKK bombing while getting ready for church on Sunday morning.
Out the windows on another side of the building, Kelly Ingram park fills the view. It was here that thousands of children and young people were involved in the Children's Crusade - marching for their rights, and subsequently, filling the jails. At one point, 10 children were arrested every minute, and the police had to use school buses to cart away all of the children. Can you imagine the bravery of the young people (some as young as six!), and the parents of these children? It is powerful! It is also in this park that public safety commissioner "Bull" Connors set police dogs and fire hoses on the peacefully protesting young people.
The start of the BCRI museum, visitors walk through a well done gallery showing the lives of black communities before the civil rights movement. Though very separate, and inherently less privileged, the gallery showed bits of life in the tight knit black communities of the South. The gallery ends with a quote on the wall, explaining how separate never can be equal - as the Brown v. Board of Education case proved in 1954 . This really struck me as I spoke with the Birmingham teacher who I had the chance to meet with in the afternoon. Though legalized school segregation was struck down sixty years ago, segregation is still alive and well in Birmingham schools. Because of neighborhood zoning and the creation of mini districts suburban neighborhoods, schools are hardly integrated. The teacher with whom I spoke teaches in school made up of almost entirely African American students, with 100% receiving free and reduced lunch, while "over the mountain," diverse schools with higher populations of white and international students are nestled into suburban neighborhoods. This teacher shared of the many struggles facing the urban school system in Birmingham, from higher class sizes, to inadequate housing, from families with barriers to being involved in school to kids who have many more responsibilities outside of school than their counterparts in suburban areas. Although she said there is no shortage of "stuff," (technology, furniture, etc), she feels that there is a lack of community involvement. Though many her students are the grandchildren of the Children's Crusade marchers, this teacher feels that something has been lost in the time since the Civil Rights movement, and many of the teachers at her school actually feel that issues in education may be in poorer shape now than ever. Clearly, there are many, many struggles that young children in the city of Birmingham still face.
I finished the day with some classic southern BBQ, and I think my hair still smells like ribs! :-) Although this vegetarian settled on a baked potato the size of my head, those I ate with savored the finger licking good sauces and meats! Then, off to Montgomery and the next stop on this pilgrimage!
~emily~
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