MLK celebration in Birmingham

Being in Birmingham for Martin Luther King, Jr Day is particulary powerful. As you may know, this is the place King once called the "most segregated city in America," where King was jailed, and where police chief "Bull" Connor turned hoses on protesters.

Mom and I attended part of a rally organized by the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and held at the historic Sixteenth Street Baptist Church, site of the horrific 1963 bombing that took the lives of four little girls. We arrived late and were lucky to find two seats in the packed church; as we sat down a young boy was passionately delivering King's "I Have a Dream" speech. The audience showed their support and agreement with shouts and "amens," and I had a new understanding of the tradition of church oration from which King had drawn. The audience rose to its feet to applaud this powerful delivery! A young man followed with King's "Mountaintop" speech, and several adult community leaders and City Councilmembers spoke about Birmingham's challenges in reducing youth violence and offering better guidance and education for young people. There were some elders on the stage, and while I am not sure who they were, I had the sense that the memories of the Civil Rights Era struggles live on here, as the community looks to confront current challenges.