Day Four: Birmingham, AL

Today's stop in Birmingham was the most real day for me thus far. To stand in the same park where hundreds of children were attacked by police dogs and fire hoses for attempting a peaceful march through town and then carried off to jail makes you stop in your tracks and reflect on your own character....Would I have been that brave? Would I have stood up to such adversity as a small child? In one account a mother ran to warn her son and the other children before the attacks of the brutality they were to face, his response:

"We know, and we are going anyway."

I can only hope and pray I would have had the courage to do the same.

Even more emotional than the park was sitting in 16th Street Church, the same church that was bombed in 1963 by members of the KKK, where 4 young girls ages 11-14 died. Just bystanders in turmoil that was Birmingham, the death of these young girls finally brought the national attention to Birmingham that was needed to begin true positive progress for the Civil Rights Movement.

We also visited the Birmingham Civil Rights institute, my favorite of the museums thus far. We were able to watch speeches and video clips of different individuals important in the Civil Rights Movement, which were so moving. Some of the most impactful things in the museum were propaganda films, statements, and pamphlets used to try and stop the Civil Rights Movement. The ignorance and hatred made my skin crawl…almost as much as the pictures of children age 6 and younger in mini Ku Klux Klan robes.

As I walked through the museum I couldn’t help but be struck by the quotes on the walls and in different exhibits, here are some of my favorites:

“If we are wrong, the Supreme Court is wrong,
If we are wrong, the Constitution of the United States is wrong,
If we are wrong, God Almighty is wrong.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.

“We will accept the violence and the hate, absorbing it without returning it.” – James Lawson(member of CORE and SCLC, supporter of the non-violence movement)

“They can outlaw an organization, but they can’t outlaw the movement of a people determined to be free.” –Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth (after the NAACP was banned in Alabama)

“Jail, no bail. We can stand it in there as long as people can stand it out here.” – College student members of SNNC (choosing 30 day jail sentences rather than a $100 fine to prove a point about the injustices in the South)

“Justice delayed, does not have to be justice denied.” – U.S. Attorney, Doug Jones

This trip has been so eye opening, enlightening, and emotional. I wish every person could take the same journey, I think our country would be a much better place.

On a completely unrelated note….if you ever make it to Birmingham stop by Mrs. B’s on 4th Ave, get the Banana pudding…best $1.10 you’ll ever spend in your life.