16th Street Baptist Church Bombing Essay

In 1963, a month after Martin Luther King’s I have a dream speech rang harmonies of freedom and equality throughout the United States, Klan members set off dynamite in the sixteenth Baptist Church. The resulting explosion and compromise in the integrity of the building killed four girls. These girls, Addie Mae Collins, Cynthia Wesley, Carole Robertson, and Denise McNarr were the victims of this atrocity. The events that followed furthered the bloodshed. Thousands of black protestors flooded the streets in protest of the horrific acta that took place in the sixteenth Baptist street church [2]. It was not until 2001 and 2002 when some of the men responsible for the crimes would be prosecuted and eventually convicted. Though the intent of the bombing was to instill fear and panic into the black community, what came about was unity and a call to action.

The Boston Marathon is an annual marathon hosted by several cities in Greater Boston in eastern Massachusetts. It is always held on Patriot’s Day, the third Monday in April. Begun in 1897, the Boston Marathon is the world’s oldest annual marathons and ranks as the world’s best-known road-racing events (“Boston Bombing,” n.d.). But on April 15, 2013, the marathon made history for something else. At approximately 2:49 EST, two pressure cooker bombs struck near the finish line of the marathon, leaving three dead and one hundred and forty one injured. Among the injured, twelve were reported in critical condition. The victims, who were treated in eight different hospitals, were as young as two (Lev, 2013).

It was April 19, 1995 at 9:03 that the lives of thousands were affected by one single

The film 4 Little Girls (1997) Directed by Spike Lee shows in detail the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing in Birmingham, Alabama that occurred on September 15th, 1963. Dr. King comment on the event stating that it is “one of the most vicious and tragic crimes ever perpetrated against humanity". The movie was entirely made nearly 30 years later, but still gives us an investigative feel while explaining how Addie Mae Collins, Cynthia Wesley, Carole Robertson and Carol Denise still lived their lives day to day. Through the use of eye witness, family members, and friends we are given a detailed analysis of the event and the aftermath while juxtaposing church desecrations from the mid 1990’s. and institutional racism. 4 Little Girls was also well received by critics and truly a test for an experienced filmmaker.

The Children’s March on Birmingham was not only important in the civil rights movement, but also in changing the perception of the importance of children in protest. The children were able to find their voices to speak out against injustice. This finding of their voice was a major theme of a quote by educator Bell Hooks, “Coming to voice... identify freely with other people.” This quotation is a representation of what the children involved in the march were able to do. Once the adults did not want to be involved in the movement, the children found the courage to connect with each other and conquer segregation in Birmingham. The Children’s March not only set the stage of the involvement of children in other conflicts, such as the protest against

One was absent due to earlier funeral arrangements, but all of the girls were remembered. Famous people from the civil rights movement attended, including the father of the act, Martin Luther King Jr. Dr. Martin gave a speech. His amazing speech was a breathtaking and marvelous way to tribute the deaths. But, Martin was a clever man. He knew that eyes and ears were on him. He knew that like all the others, this speech doubled as a pep talk to all in the fight, and it did well. “...history has proven over and over again that unmerited suffering is redemptive. The innocent blood of these little girls may well serve as a redemptive force (Yeah) that will bring new light to this dark city”. That line professionally states that because of their death, new opportunities have been created for the likeness of the non-segregation side of the quarrel. The drive in the citizens was at max; both for and not to segregation. It was time for that spirit to be set free and for change to

Said Martin Luther King Jr. after the Birmingham Bombing (“16th Street Baptist Church”). The 1963 Birmingham Church Bombing was a devastating event. Lives were lost and you were defined by your skin color.

In 1963, four children were killed in the bombing of Birmingham’s Sixteenth Street Baptist Church. Martin Luther King and Eugene Patterson both delivered eulogies after the deaths of Addie Mae Collins, Denise McNair, Cynthia Diane Wesley, and Carole Robertson. The death of these children were not in vain. They aided Congress to pass the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Both eulogies have sentiments of hope and responsibility and use repetition.

On April 19th 1995 the worst terrorist attack on US soil took place in the heartland of America. The Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma was targeted and almost completely blown to pieces by one enormous homemade bomb. The unthinkable had happened at the beginning of an average day at the office. This day would be remembered for the rest of America's history, unlike any other day, as a blatant attack on the United States government.

He tells the story of a young African girl in order to make the audience feel sympathy. He writes, "She can no longer attend the all-Negro school in her neighborhood because her mother died only recently after a car crash. Neighbors say if the ambulance hadn't come so late to take her to the all Negro hospital the mother might still be alive." This story is told so the audience will understand the blatant disregard for African American lives. It is told to make people realize that a change needs to be made and

These are the four little girls that had died in the bombing of The 16th street Baptist church. Their names were Addi Mae Collins, Cynthia Wesley, Carole Robertson, and Carol Denise.

On April 15, 2013 during the Boston Marathon in Copley Square, two bombs exploded near the finish line killing at least three and injuring over 170 people. This bombing sent the nation in an uproar and it was immediately recognized as a terrorist attack. When the Federal Bureau of Investigation took over, a few days later a surveillance video and photographs of the two suspects were released.

Since Sunday September 15, 1963, Birmingham received its nickname Bombingham. Many people would think that a church, a place of God, would be the last place to be blown to pieces. Four people lost their lives the day of the bombing. The enemy didn’t seem to care about the people inside but the color of their skin. The Birmingham church bombing also brought influential people, major details surrounding the crisis, a difference in society, and a change in history.

On the early morning of Sunday, September 15th 1963 in Birmingham, Alabama four members of the KKK planted a minimum of 15 sticks of dynamite under the steps of the 16th Street Baptist church, close to the basement. At 10:22 a.m. the 16th Street Baptist Church received a phone call from an anonymous man who simply said “Three minutes,” before hanging up. Less than a minute of the call, the bombs exploded as there were five children present within the basement of the church. Out of the 5 children who were in the basement 4 of them died from the explosion 14 year old Addie Mae Collins, Carole Robertson, Cynthia Wesley, and 11 year old Carol Denise McNair. More than 20 other additional people were injured in the explosion, one of them being Sarah

Dudley Randall’s “Ballad of Birmingham” is a look into the effects of racism on a personal level. The poem is set in Alabama during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. The tone of the title alludes to the city of Birmingham as a whole. The poem gives the reader, instead, a personal look into a tragic incident in the lives of a mother and her daughter. The denotation of the poem seems to simply tell of the sadness of a mother losing her child. The poem’s theme is one of guilt, irony, and the grief of losing a child. The mother feels responsible for the death of her child. The dramatic irony of the mother’s view of church as being a “safe haven” for her child is presented to the reader through the mother’s insistence that the young girl