Lessons from Birmingham.
When asked to describe what makes Birmingham's story so pivotal, Rodney had this to say:
Birmingham, like any other city, is more than one thing, and its people, a combination of kind and calloused, beautiful and broken. Yet, the Magic City has an ace up its sleeve -- its undeniable heart -- one that, in just 15 years, allowed it to move from jailing MLK to electing an African American mayor, among other things.
It's the city that shaped Mary's life, who, in turn, shaped mine.
She once told me that for all its flaws, she both loved it and had been loved by it. Looking back, I'm grateful to be able to say the same thing. Below are glimpses of my beloved hometown's journey from past to present, from then to now, and how it's a place that continues to show the rest of America who it can be.
|
|
THIS LAND IS YOUR LAND'S "The Goodbye Girl" vignette is a glimpse into 1970s Birmingham from one boy's perspective and, more broadly, an examination of the kind of damage redlining does. But more than anything, it's a story of transformation, and how the people of that great city turned their diversity, something long thought of as a liability, into its greatest asset. Read about it here.