Civil Rights

Wonderful morning visiting the landmarks of the 1950’s and ‘60s Birmingham Civil Rights movement.

I was simultaneously moved and horrified by the photo, art, and interpretive installations. The nonviolence of the people, marches, protests juxtaposed against the sheer brutality that met them was shocking.

I can’t stop thinking about the courage it took... to protest knowing you’d likely be attacked by dogs, beaten, shot with high pressure water cannons, and jailed...and to send your children to, or be a child attending, a newly desegregated school only to be ostracized and threatened.

And it wasn’t just “other” citizens and citizen groups doing this... it was the police, senators, and the governor of the state, not just blithely condoning through willful ignorance, but ACTIVELY planning and participating in these atrocities.

It’s terrifying how similar our current racial and political environment is to that period of history. Or, perhaps more appropriately, it’s terrifying how little has changed...Read more