Published On: 09.11.23 | 

By: Alabama News Center Staff

‘Forging Justice Commemoration Week’ is underway in Birmingham as anniversary of Sixteenth Street Baptist Church bombing approaches

Birmingham's Sixteenth Street Baptist Church, target of the 1963 bombing that killed four little girls. (contributed)

With the 60th anniversary of the racial terrorist bombing of Birmingham’s Sixteenth Street Baptist Church just days away, the city and multiple partners have begun a weeklong commemoration that will culminate Friday with a keynote address at the church by U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson.

Throughout this year, the city, area churches, arts organizations, businesses and nonprofits have reflected on the 1963 Birmingham civil and human rights movement. Alabama News Center has also been marking the anniversary with “Bending Toward Justice,” an ongoing series of stories and videos about that year in Birmingham.

The 2023 Forging Justice Commemoration Week kicked off Sunday at Sixteenth Street Baptist with a service featuring Rev. Lukata Mjumbe, executive director of the Alabama African American Civil Rights Heritage Sites Consortium. It was followed by a community conversation with nationally recognized educator, advocate and mathematician Freeman Hrabowski and members of Birmingham civil rights families at the nearby Ballard House.

On Tuesday, historic Bethel Baptist Church, in the city’s Collegeville neighborhood, launches a multiday conference on individual and community healing at the Sheraton Birmingham Hotel. The conference, titled There IS a Balm in Gilead: Healing from the Events of 1963, includes more than 30 breakout sessions and will focus on healing from racial trauma, conflict resolution and more. Keynote speakers include pastor, teacher and author Tony Evans of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Dallas; Kevin Lindsey, CEO of the Minnesota Humanities Center; Elizabeth Silkes, president of the International Coalition of Sites of Conscience; and Hassan Jefferies, author of “Bloody Lowndes,” among others. For details and to register, click here.

Ketanji Brown Jackson, the first Black woman to sit on the U.S. Supreme Court, is slated to deliver a keynote address on Friday at Sixteenth Street Baptist Church. (Joe Raedle / Getty Images)

On Sept. 14, an exhibition opens at the Birmingham Museum of Art. Dawoud Bey: The Birmingham Project, consists of a series of diptychs by renowned photographer Dawoud Bey that pays homage to the legacy of the bombing while celebrating the resilience and strength of the Birmingham community.

Also on Sept. 14, The Ballard House Project Inc. presents a community gathering in remembrance of the events of 1963. The Ballard House and its partners invite the Birmingham community to engage in critical, intergenerational dialogue with scholar, author and nationally recognized thought leader Eddie Glaude. The event will highlight messages from civil rights family members and inspirational music. The limited seating event is free and begins at 6 p.m. at Sixteenth Street Baptist. Doors open at 5:30 p.m.

Also taking place Sept. 14 are two sold-out screenings of the Spike Lee documentary 4 Little Girls, hosted by the Morgan Project at the Sidewalk Film Center and Cinema, 1821 Second Ave. N. The screenings feature a virtual introduction by Lee. For details, click here.

Also scheduled for Sept. 14 is the “Watsons Go to Birmingham School Field Trip Day.” Christopher Paul Curtis’ book “The Watsons Go to Birmingham” will be brought to life with a hands-on, curriculum-based field trip for fourth to eighth graders. Students will listen to ’60s music, play jacks and hopscotch, read poetry by Langston Hughes and map out the route the Watsons took from Flint, Michigan, to Birmingham. There will be a vintage car show sponsored by the Iron City Cruisers and the Dixie Vintage Auto Club, featuring a 1937 Plymouth like the Watsons’ “Brown Bomber.” The event, supported by multiple partners, runs from 9 a.m. until noon with an optional screening of “4 Little Girls” for middle schoolers at the Lyric Theatre at 1 p.m.

On Friday, Sept. 15, the actual 60th anniversary of the Sixteenth Street Baptist bombing, the church will commemorate the horrific event, beginning at 9:30 a.m., with a litany and reflection. It features music by the Carlton Reese Memorial and Miles College choirs; words from Wales’ Minister of the Economy Vaughan Gething; and the keynote address by Jackson, the first African American female U.S. Supreme Court justice. For more information, go to 16thstreetbaptist.org.

Also, ongoing at City Hall through Sept. 15 is “Through His Eye: The Photography of Chris McNair,” an exhibition at City Hall that highlights the work of the late photographer Chris McNair, displaying images he captured during the civil rights movement, including one of his late daughter Denise, who was killed in the Sixteenth Street Baptist bombing. The exhibit is on the second floor of City Hall, 710 20th St. N. Visitors can view the collection Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. For details, click here.

Finally, taking place Sept. 24 is a production of the play, “Four Little Girls: Birmingham 1963.” As part of the Human Rights New Works Festival, Sixteenth Street Baptist joins Red Mountain Theatre for a reading of the one-act play by Christina Ham. Shows are at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. at the Red Mountain Theatre Arts Campus, 1600 Third Ave. S. Buy tickets at redmountaintheatre.org.

For updates about the 2023 Forging Justice Commemoration Week, visit birminghamal.gov/forgingjustice.