Today is the 50th Anniversary of the KKK bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham Alabama in 1963. Four girls, Addie Mae Collins, Carole Robertson and Cynthia Wesley, who were 14, and Denise McNair, who was 11 died in this act of terrorism.
There have been memorial events in Birmingham all week, and there will be a special service at the church today.
A memorial statue, was installed in Birmingham, this week.
The Four Spirits Statue, a tribute to the four little girls killed in the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church on September 15, 1963. The statue is situated in Kelly Ingram Park between the statue of Martin Luther King Jr. and the church.
Joseph Lowery at memorial unveiling: ‘We need to turn to each other, not on each other’
Holder, Rice to mark Alabama bombing anniversary
Attorney General Eric Holder and former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will be among those gathered in Birmingham to mark the 50th anniversary of a Ku Klux Klan bombing that killed four girls at the 16th Street Baptist Church.The Justice Department says both are scheduled to speak at the University of Alabama at Birmingham early Sunday afternoon, then will attend the church’s memorial service. They will be joined by Gov. Robert Bentley, U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell and Birmingham Mayor William Bell.
There have been many eulogies over the years in prose, poetry and song referring to that day of terror.
One that still moves me to tears was sung by Joan Baez.
Come round by my side and I’ll sing you a song.
I’ll sing it so softly, it’ll do no one wrong.
On Birmingham Sunday the blood ran like wine,
And the choirs kept singing of Freedom.
That cold autumn morning no eyes saw the sun,
And Addie Mae Collins, her number was one.
At an old Baptist church there was no need to run.
And the choirs kept singing of Freedom,
The clouds they were grey and the autumn winds blew,
And Denise McNair brought the number to two.
The falcon of death was a creature they knew,
And the choirs kept singing of Freedom,
The church it was crowded, but no one could see
That Cynthia Wesley’s dark number was three.
Her prayers and her feelings would shame you and me.
And the choirs kept singing of Freedom.
Young Carol Robertson entered the door
And the number her killers had given was four.
She asked for a blessing but asked for no more,
And the choirs kept singing of Freedom.
On Birmingham Sunday a noise shook the ground.
And people all over the earth turned around.
For no one recalled a more cowardly sound.
And the choirs kept singing of Freedom.
The men in the forest they once asked of me,
How many black berries grew in the Blue Sea.
And I asked them right back with a tear in my eye.
How many dark ships in the forest?
The Sunday has come and the Sunday has gone.
And I can’t do much more than to sing you a song.
I’ll sing it so softly, it’ll do no one wrong.
And the choirs keep singing of Freedom.
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