Wed., July 11, 2018
Birmingham, Alabama
The first visit on today's itinerary was to the 16th St. Baptist Church, the site of a bombing on the 15th of Sept., 1963, a Sunday morning.  Members of the KKK planted 15 sticks of dynamite on the East side of the church with a timing device.  The blast killed 4 young black girls who were in a restroom getting changed for choir.  The church is now a National Historic Landmark, under the umbrella of the National Park Service.  It was amazing to be at a site that I had seen so many times in news films.  I kept thinking about the girls who were killed.  What an awful thing, to not even be able to be safe in your place of worship.  And it is happening again.  That breaks my heart and makes my blood boil.  I think about the parents, siblings, and friends of those girls.  What must they have thought about the presence of God in their lives on that day ?  Was their faith profoundly shaken ?  Mine is shaken, even at this distance in time.
The gentleman who gave us the tour did a fine job of presenting the history of the church in the period immediately preceding the bombing, during which the church had become a hub of resistance activity for the Black community.  Churches were some of the few places that large groups of Blacks could gather, due to the oppressive segregationist laws in Birmingham.
During the questions following the official tour talk, someone asked about the situation today for black citizens of the city.  The tour guide indicated that things were pretty good and that , in general, black people were doing okay.  A black gentleman sitting among us stood and rebutted that in a very moving way.  His name is Dr. Latting, and he is a retired internist/cardiologist in the city.  He talked about the housing issues and the huge wealth gap that exists between Blacks and Whites, among other current problems.  He made a huge impression on many of us .
At the front side of the church, opposite the altar is an amazing stained glass window that was given to the congregation in 1965 by the people of Wales, UK, to honor the lives lost here.  It is an image of a Black Jesus on the cross, his right hand raised palm outward to fend off oppression and his left hand extended, offering forgiveness.   It is a powerful image and the story really caught me.  The people of Wales were wanting to acknowledge the awfulness of the event and commemorate those lives lost than were the people of the US.  Many in Birmingham and other parts of the US supported the violence against those who resisted and pushed back against segregation.  White supremacy was in evidence everywhere in our nation and the rest of the world was watching.  So it is now.
Across the street from the church is Kelly Ingram Park, where Birmingham police used fire hoses, batons, and dogs against demonstrators in May of 1963.  Some of the children among the demonstrators were as young as 6 !  What kinds of scars were they left with ?  What kinds of people manned the hoses , wielded the batons, and handled the dogs ?  What kind of scars were they left with after participating in such inhumane ( inhuman) events ?  The park contains statues of the dogs, the people, the firehose cannons, and other elements of that day in May.  Walking through it felt like walking on holy ground.   I kept thinking of my much-loved grandchildren and how it would be to be a part of a community in which I felt so terrorized every day and so desperate for change that I would be willing to have them participate in demonstrations that carried such high risk.  Once again on this trip, I felt my heart breaking.

Next stop was the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute.  The exhibits in this museum really brought the extent of the barriers placed in front of Black citizens because of segregation.  I was especially struck by the reproductions of two classrooms from 1953.  The White classroom has modern ( to that period ) classroom furnishings, very good lighting, and new-looking textbooks.  The Black classroom is dimly lit, has antiquated furniture, a wood stove, and no evidence of books.  Separate but equal ?????
The museum does a good job of chronicling the history of the Civil Rights Movement in Birmingham and connecting it to other important sites.  Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth was a noteworthy leader here and worked with MLK.  The cell from which MLK wrote his "Letter from Birmingham Jail" is replicated, but has the original cell door and bed.  It was moving to me to see the small, mean, space in which such a big spirit had been incarcerated because he led a movement for justice.
The other exhibit that made a lasting impression on me was a replicated courtroom with a lone figure of an African-American man seated in the witness chair.  African -Americans were pretty much on their own when in court.  There was no system of public defenders; juries were all-white.  Above the seated figure, on the courtroom wall, is a quote from Thomas Jefferson: Equal and exact justice to all men, of whatever state or persuasion.  I was thinking:  WHAT A LOT OF BS !!

After lunch  we loaded the buses and started out for Montgomery.  A change of route meant that we had the opportunity to walk across the Pettus Bridge in Selma !  Talk about feeling as though one was treading on sacred ground !  The bridge itself is smaller than it appeared to me all the times I have seen it on TV or film.  It is only ¼ mile long, but I was imagining that it must have seemed many times longer to the people marching across it to face the hatred on the other side.  At the end of the bridge is a memorial area with a number of plaques and a simulated lynching tree.  Also, there is a gazebo on the riverbank.  Don Gathers led those of us from Bus #2 in an impromptu prayer circle, which was just the right thing .  The prayers offered were heartfelt and deep.  Certainly the Spirit was among us.