Monday, July 25, 2011

Birmingham Sunday







Yesterday was a nice day. We went to church in the morning and decided to drive to Birmingham for lunch afterwards. We can never think of where to eat in town, especially on Sundays, so an hour's drive is well worth it to avoid blah and boring chain restaurant food. We ate at Taj India, one of our favorite places and then did a little downtown exploring.
Ever since we have lived in Alabama, we have been wanting to go to the Civil Rights Museum. Growing up in New York City during the time frame of the Civil Rights Movement, I saw the images of hatred and violence on the news. It was a horrific time of mistreatment and crimes against people that I shall never forget.
The 16th Street Baptist Church was the sight of a bombing that left four beautiful little girls dead, the news of which shocked the nation. The museum is located directly across the street from the church, which is a beautiful and stately building. We were happy to see that it was open and found out that on Sundays, you can donate any amount you wish for entrance.
Several times my throat closed up and I fought back tears as I listened, and read through the exhibits. We left the building feeling impacted by what we saw and observed. The Birmingham Airport is named after Fred Shuttlesworth, the Pastor of the 16th Street Baptist Church and a Civil Rights leader. A street in our town, Hood Street is named after the first African American male who attended the University of Alabama, who was from Gadsden. Richard Arrington Jr, was elected as the first African American Mayor of Birmingham only 15 years after the civil unrest of the area, and he served for twenty years. A street downtown is named after him.
As you can see, this museum was an inspiring experience for us yesterday. After that, we drove around the downtown finding the newly constructed park ,Railroad Park, and a vintage store that we have to visit when it is actually open and a few other areas we wanted to see.
A good day, indeed.

3 comments:

  1. What a nice day you had. Have you read "The Help"? The movie is coming out next month and was filmed in Alabama.

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