We spent half our day in Montgomery, AL visiting the homes of activists and churches that were sites of civil rights activism. These included the home of Johnnie Carr, close friend of Rosa Parks and longtime President of the Montgomery Improvement Association. The Dexter Parsonage, home to Martin Luther King when he was pastor of the Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church (1954-1960). We also visited the First Baptist Church where Dr. Ralph Abernathy, the civil rights leader and close friend of Martin Luther King Jr. pastored for eight years from 1952-1961. We also visited the Holt Street Baptist Church which was a place from where King, Abernathy, and others mobilized people for the Montgomery Bus Boycott (1955-1956). Needless to say, these visits brought home the central role played by the African-American church, its leaders, and the faith of ordinary citizens in taking the road to non-violent protest in the pursuit of freedom, equality, and justice for themselves.
The second half of the day was spent in Birmingham, AL first at the Civil Rights Institute where we spent some time studying the exhibits. We were treated to a rich display of artifacts, photographs, films, and literature from the period that confirmed what we had seen, heard, and read about the Civil Rights Movement—the painful and long drawn struggle of African-Americans (and other groups) to gain equal rights in the face of institutionalized racism, the complicity of many white churches, and the violence, humiliation, and beatings dished out by police, the KKK, and individual white citizens in Alabama and other southern states. The incidents of violence are too numerous to detail here…but consider this: The Rev. Frank Shuttlesworth was severely beaten by a mob when he showed up to register his children at an all white school!! Shuttlesworth went to jail about 35 times, his house was repeatedly bombed, and he was attacked, insulted, and beaten on other occasions. Undaunted, he continued to pursue civil rights issues…one person I wished I could have met (he is still alive and I believe lives in Ohio). Read about him if you can… Another stunning incident was the case of 13 year old Virgil “Peanut” Ware who was shot by Larry Sims as he was riding his brother’s bicycle. Sims, a 16 year old white boy who was an Eagle Scout and a straight A student. Sims served 6 months in a juvenile center and was then released. Thomas Blanton who was the main accused in the 16th street Baptist Church bombing in 1963 (which resulted in the deaths of 4 innocent children) was convicted of his crime only in 2001, nearly 40 years later!! Many accused simply were let off by the all-white juries of the time. There are numerous instances of such crimes being committed, often with the perpetrators either being set scot free or never being discovered!! What struck me in all this was the power of racism to pervade the lives of ordinary people to the extent that they lost their humanity despite their education and participation in the church! I also realized that had I been in the United States south in these time, I would have had to “keep my place” and stay in line, or at least my side of the racial line…no guesses on what that would have been. I will not try to hide the fact that, this has not always been easy to digest…
Anyway, after this, I went across the street from the Institute to the 16th street Baptist Church, the site of the infamous bombing mentioned above. Earlier, in the bus we had watched a film by Spike Lee called “Four Little Girls,” which covered the bombing of the 16th street Baptist Church in Birmingham which resulted in the deaths of 4 innocent girls– 11-year-old Denise McNair and three 14-year-olds: Cynthia Wesley, Carole Robertson and Addie Mae Collins.
First Baptist Church where Rev. Ralph Abernathy was pastor
Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church, Montgomery, AL
Status of Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth outside the Civil Rights Institute in Birmingham, AL
The 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, AL which was bombed in 1963