Burning Birmingham!!

When I clicked on our class page The Color of Christ on the internet I was normally greeted with this photo and some quote. I never really stopped and read them until the other day! WOW. These quotes are so powerful and at the same time they have a way of making open your mind and want to know why these people said these things. Anne Moody was a an African American author who wrote about her experiences of growing up in rural Mississippi, coming from a poor family background, her involvement in the Civil Rights Movement and her fight against racism in the United States from the 60s.

For those of you who do not know what the Birmingham Bombings are they took place in 1963 on September 15 at 10:22am in the morning located on inside the 16^th Street Baptist Church. This Baptist Church had had numerous threats from the KKK of the surrounding areas as it was famous for their Civil Rights meetings and their leaders, like King. Members of the surrounding KKK had routinely threatened with bomb threats and intended to interrupt their meetings as well as their church services.

As the morning of the 15 came a number around 200 church members were inside the building, many attending Sunday school before the main service at 11am. The bomb went off and it was located on the east side but the blast and mortar and bricks from the front of the church began to cave in and so did most of its interior walls. Most members were able to evacuate the church while it filled with smoke but the bodies of four young girls (14-year-old Addie Mae Collins, Carole Robertson, Cynthia Wesley, and 11-year-old Denise McNair) were found hidden beneath the ruins in the basement restroom. Though there were only 4 casualties many children were injured and required attendance after the bombing.

Anne Moody’s words are powerful and scary at the same time. She leaves no room for God. If she discovers He is black, she will try her might to kill him. And if He is white then she wants no part in him. Anne Moody never allowed time for the thought of what if. What if this bombing took place to help save others from the KKK threats? What if this bombing happen to bring more awareness to the dangers going on in the Civil Rights Movement? I know if is impossibly hard to look at a death of a child and say, “Maybe that was God’s plan?” but can we really know for sure whether it is or isn’t? We can just hope the best for humanity and that this is always remembered as a huge impact in race and religion in the south.