As unassuming Northerners we walked into Birmingham, Alabama thinking we had our history down; thinking we knew what to expect, thinking we had seen racism. We began navigating the geography of this city, moving in minutes from one economic extreme to the next, and were quickly humbled by our lack of knowledge. We began asking, "How did this city become this way?" Whispers of answers started coming, but it wasn't until entering the Civil Rights Museum that we faced the staggering reminder of the sickening prejudice perpetuated by segregation, and of the fight for freedom that has spanned decades.
We met a man named Jason who navigates the extremes every day: working for the largest and wealthiest megachurch in Birmingham while working with a mentoring program that involves youth from the poorest demographic of the city. He declared to us, "No one knows their history!" In order to work in this city, he said, we must know what shaped the people and the places with which we interact every day.
Maybe we will go so far as to say that everyone in every city should understand its history, the bright sides and the dark sides, no matter what their line of work? It could be easy to become embittered by our nation's dark past, but we choose to see it as our responsibility and our opportunity. Civil Rights has come a long way since our parents' generation and we will not ignore the progress, but we also will not ignore the fact that we have a long way to go... and our generation must take hold of the baton and move forward.
A shout out to the people we met in Birmingham doing just that! In the middle of the struggle we found some beautiful hearts and full lives, and learned the true meaning of Southern hospitality.
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