The City of Birmingham honored the past, yet looked 50 Years Forward in official events commemorating the 50th anniversary of the 1963 Birmingham Civil Rights Movement.
The week kicked off on Sept. 11 with a free special concert organized by Trinity Broadcasting Network, featuring actor/songwriter Clifton Davis and award-winning gospel singer Donnie McClurkin. Special included Rev. Bernice King, daughter of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., CeeCee Winans and attorney Willie Gary.
Birmingham Mayor William Bell hosted colleagues from the U.S. Conference of Mayors, who held a symposium at Sixteenth Street Baptist Church. They announced a plan that the group would endorse and use to address continuing civil rights issues, lingering racism, poverty and inequality.
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| photo by Wade Event Photography |
Other events during Empowerment Week featured Spike Lee and a screening of his 1997 HBO documentary, “Four Little Girls.” It explored the tragically short lives of Denise McNair, Addie Mae Collins, Carole Robertson and Cynthia Wesley, and the impact their deaths had on Birmingham, on Alabama and the nation. Lee dedicated his award from city officials to the Rev. Fred L. Shuttlesworth, the fiery and ultra-courageous local leader of the Birmingham Movement, and his widow, Sephira, his second wife.
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| Â US Atty. Eric Holder, former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and UAB President Ray Watts (by Vickii Howell) |
Former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who was also a co-chair of Empowerment Week, made several appearances in Birmingham during commemorative events. One included an intimate conversation with current U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Their conversation came before a special showing of Christina Hamm’s play “Four Little Girls.”
Holder also spoke at a special commemorative service at Sixteenth Street Baptist Church with other guests. Holder, his wife Sharon (whose sister Vivian confronted Gov. George Wallace who tried to block her entrance into the University of Alabama with James Hood) and other officials including Gov. Bentley, viewed a new memorial sculpture at Kelly Ingram Park honoring the Four Little Girls.
Earlier in that week, Birmingham-born sculptor Elizabeth MacQueen oversaw the installation of the bronze and steel memorial at the northwest corner of the park across from Sixteenth Street Baptist. A group of citizens formed the Four Spirits Committee raised funds to finally create a fitting tribute to the girls killed in the bombing and recognize two boys — Virgil Ware and Johnny Robinson — who were also killed on Sept. 15, 1963 in separate racially-motivated incidents.
A small sampling of the many events that took place during Empowerment Week include: a series of panel discussions about the state of civil rights and the African American community, particularly one organized by entertainer Bill Cosby; an international street fair honoring Birmingham’s impact on the world; a play based on the work of bomb survivor Carolyn McKinstry; and an all-star tribute concert featuring Jamie Foxx, Charlie Wilson and Jill Scott.
City officials say they plan to make Empowerment Week an annual event in Birmingham.
