Freedom!

This exquisite sculpture if part of Birmingham artist Elizabeth Macqueen's Four Spirits. Honoring the four little girls who died in the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing in 1963. The church stands behind.

Freedom

This was photographed at Kelly Ingram Park, just across the street from Birmingham's Civil Rights Institute and the 16th Street Baptist Church. This week, President Obama declared Birmingham's Civil Rights a National Monument.  As we honor the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. today, it's especially fitting. 

The Struggle Continues

The Birmingham Civil Rights Institute chronicles the Civil Rights Movement in Birmingham. The final room depicts the continuing struggle that we here in Birmingham and cities around this country face to become a nation of true equality.

Standing Watch

Civil Rights leader Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth stands watch outside the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, just across the street from the historic 16th Street Baptist Church.

Faces In The Window

Spotted as I was leaving the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute last Saturday night. 

At Last......

Two dear friends, Ann Huckstep and Carold Misner married last night. I feel so blessed to have been invited to be a part of their very special day.

Family Matters

Last night marked the opening of Carolyn Sherer's second photography exhibit at the Civil Rights Institute.  Previously, her work Living in Limbo, featuring lesbian families in Alabama, was exhibited in 2012 and drew 17,000 visitors.  Wednesday evening Carolyn's newest work, Family Matters opened to a packed house. This exhibit will hang until June 9, 2014.

 "The exhibition is aimed at initiating a conversation about social change and the need for family acceptance for LGBTQ youth. LGBTQ youth who experience family rejection are at significantly greater risk for bullying, homelessness, suicide, and depression, among other challenges," a press release stated. 

 

BESA

BESA Muslims Who Saved Jews in World War II, is a photographic exhibit by photographer Norman Gershman.  His book by the same name contains portraits and and moving text by 65 Muslim families in Albania who saved Jews during the war.  The photographs are beautiful and the stories compelling. I don't know when I've been so moved by a book.  The exhibit is free if you do not wish to tour the rest of the Civil Rights Institute and runs through June.

BESA means promise or vow and the stories of how these Muslim families risked so much for  the Jewish people that they did not know,  is a moving and heartwarming story.  Gershman visited Albania many times to photograph and interview those who were directly involved or their families.

I quote from Hamdi Mece, the grandson of Sulejman and Zenepe Mece:
" We never took money from those we sheltered. We took them in under our Besa. We are true Muslims and God granted us the privilege of saving Jews.  All life is precious and given by God. To save a life is God's gift.  My  grandparents and my uncle were unafraid.  They had full consciousness of what they were doing. "

Looking Back at the Past

This powerful sculpture by Alabama artist Ronald McDowell, is dedicated to the foot soldiers of the Civil Rights Movement.  Kelly Ingram Park across the street from the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute.