This September 14th -15th Weekend – A CALL TO REMEMBRANCE: “BIRMINGHAM SUNDAY” . FOUR GIRLS JUBILEE: Ring Bells for Addie Mae, Carole, Cynthia, & Denise! Nationwide 50 years ago on Sunday morning, September 15, 1963 four precious girls, Addie Mae Collins, 14, Carole Robertson, 14, Cynthia Wesley, 14, & Denise McNair, 11, were murdered by the Ku Klux Klan’s terrorist bombing of Birmingham’s Sixteenth Street Baptist Church. What has since been called “Birmingham Sunday” marked a vital turning point in the Civil Rights Movement. (Joan Baez sings “Birmingham Sunday” youtube/watch?v=WQ0y-vO9QLE CONGRESSIONAL MEDAL OF HONOR . SEPTEMBER 10, 2013 On Tuesday, September 10, 2013 at the United States Capitol, Denise McNair, Carole Robertson, Addie Mae Collins, and Cynthia Wesley (left to right in photo) were awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor, the nation’s highest civilian honor, received by members of their families. pbs.org/newshour/video/index.html The grief and anger sparked the all-out, nonviolent voting rights campaign that produced the 1965 Voting Rights Act—recently debilitated by the Supreme Court. The movement’s courageous nonviolent response also helped ensure passage of the Civil Rights Act in 1964.We call on all Americans, of all ages, colors, and creeds, to find a fitting way to honor the four girls, on or around this Sunday, September 15. Let’s make the weekend of September 15th a moment of hope, vision, and commitment—a time to make history in the here and now! HOUSES OF WORSHIP: We ask in particular if churches that meet this Sunday morning could ring their bells or chimes FOUR TIMES on September 15th at 10:22 AM (if possible), the moment of the bombing that literally stopped the clock forever in the Birmingham church sanctuary. And for the minister or lay person to call out the names of the four girls, Addie Mae Collins, Carole Robertson, Cynthia Wesley, & Denise McNair. We ask if synagogues and mosques that gather on this weekend can find a moment to ring bells in the girls’ memory or do another form of remembrance, perhaps a talk, sermon, or song. Saturday, September 14 is Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement. “BIRMINGHAM SUNDAY” REMEMBRANCE THROUGH END OF THE YEAR For other suggestions for how colleges, schools, community groups, and places of worship might choose to commemoratethroughout the rest of this year: Our website fourgirlsjubilee offers a free online Discussion Guide that participants can use, or adapt freely, for facilitated discussions. Or StewartBurnsHistory. About Stewart Burns: Civil rights historian & nonviolent activist, author of “‘We Will Stand Here Till We Die’: Freedom Movement Shakes America, Shapes Martin Luther King Jr.” MLK biographer (“To the Mountaintop”), former editor of King Papers at Stanford, co-founder, Center for Learning in Action, Williams College Email [email protected] or call him at 413-663-4885 what you are planning to do and send a brief recap afterwards that he can post on their website for others to see and appreciate. Thanks so much! – Mandy Carter, Durham, North Carolina
Posted on: Fri, 13 Sep 2013 22:50:35 +0000
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