16th Street Baptist Church
November 12, 2023 - Candace Hurley
MUSEUM DOORS OPEN WHEN THEY WERE CLOSED: “THERE WILL BE A SPACE PROVIDED FOR YOU”
We picked up the rental car swapped book suggestions with the welcoming attendants at the car pickup station and Joji drove navigating to the center of downtown Birmingham. There was a parade going on with a marching band so we had to maneuver through small town traffic to get to the Civil Rights Museum. Our intention was to make good time and tour the Birmingham CIVIL RIGHTS museum. Fate had other plans. We walked across the street from our intended destination and were transfixed on the 16th street Baptist Church. We took a few pictures of the church drawn into our own individual experience as the gravity of the horrors hit as we stood on now “hollowed grounds.” I had read about the incomprehensible bombing of the Birmingham church in 1963 and the loss of the precious young black girls lives. But I never had the chance to visit the holy site. An African American gentleman was standing by the door as other visitors to Birmingham congregated and seemed to follow us towards the entrance to the church’s museum entrance. He explain flatly that the church’s museum was closed. But he also inquired about where we were from…curious about the group of tourists that was gathering in front. Folks answered delivering far away echoes of home: “Brooklyn,” “California,” “Arizona!” In no time, this gentleman told us to “come on in. I’ma give you all a tour! We are closed but I’mma give you’all a tour!” Magically, a door opened when they were closed only moments before. I immediately understood that the universe was “bending its arch” for us to witness the history of Birmingham and the telling of a narrative from a civil rights participant, activists, and living guru. I whispered out loud “once in a life time opportunity!” I acknowledged the special offer that was being made. For over two hours, we were given the penultimate tour, replete with personal recognition and perspective that all of us recognized was a privilege to bear witness to. We took in the standing exhibit, watched the forums film and ended the tour up stairs in the restored and revived 16th Street Baptist Church. The new church embodies the crossroads constantly being navigated in our society; offering opportunities towards regression or progression. This Birmingham church gives homage to the sometimes ugly process of transformation from the past. It reminds us that the unsolicited devastation wrought on a community can yield far reaching change, perhaps even “progress,” duly noted, however, at great seemingly unbearable sacrifice and costs. I walked away filled with more determination to use the legacy of Birmingham to fuel our prosecutions Magic City.
