Alabama Marks 60th Anniversary of Tragic Church Bombing
Alabama is commemorating a somber milestone, the 60th anniversary of a horrifying event during the Civil Rights Movement – the bombing of a church that claimed the lives of four young Black girls.
This Friday, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, the first Black woman to serve on the nation’s highest court, will deliver a keynote address during the remembrance ceremony. The event will take place at the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, where the tragic incident occurred.
On the fateful morning of September 15, 1963, a devastating explosion rocked the church. It was a bomb, planted by members of the Ku Klux Klan. This hateful act targeted the African American community and the church, which played a pivotal role in the Civil Rights Movement.
In a downstairs washroom, four 14-year-old girls, Cynthia Wesley, Carole Robertson, Addie Mae Collins, and 11-year-old Denise McNair, were getting ready for Sunday services when the explosion occurred. Tragically, Denise lost her life in the blast. Her sister, Sarah Collins Rudolph, who was also in the room, survived but suffered severe injuries.
This heinous attack came on the heels of then-Governor George Wallace’s infamous “segregation forever” pledge and just two weeks after Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his iconic “I Have a Dream” speech in Washington.
As the nation reflects on this 60th anniversary, Denise’s sister, Lisa McNair, urges us to remember what transpired and contemplate how to prevent such horrors in the future. She emphasizes the importance of not letting this anniversary pass as just another day, but rather, as an opportunity for individuals to take action against such atrocities based on race.
“Remember, people killed my sister just because of the color of her skin,” McNair said. “Don’t look at this anniversary as just another day. But what are we each going to do as individuals to try to make sure that this doesn’t happen again?” she added.
Justice will prevail; three Ku Klux Klansmen involved in the bombing were eventually convicted: Robert Chambliss in 1977, Thomas Blanton in 2001, and Bobby Frank Cherry in 2002.
To pay homage to the victims, a wreath will be placed at the exact spot where the bomb was planted on an outside wall of the church. McNair has also called on city churches to ring their bells on Friday morning, marking the moment when the bomb changed lives forever.