Four Little Girls: African American History Month

 
Four Little Girls: African American History Month
~~~FEB. IS AFRICAN-AMERICAN HISTORY MONTH~~~ "Four Little Girls" killed in the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church, Birmingham, Alabama 1963.... Even as the inspiring words of Martin Luther King Jr.'s famous "I Have a Dream" speech rang out from the Lincoln Memorial during the historic March on Washington in August of 1963, racial relations in the segregated South were marked by continued violence and inequality. On September 15, a bomb exploded before Sunday morning services at the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama--a church with a predominantly black congregation that served as a meeting place for civil rights leaders. Four young girls were killed and many other people injured; outrage over the incident and the violent clash between protesters and police that followed helped draw national attention to the hard-fought, often dangerous struggle for civil rights for African Americans. ````````` Many of the civil rights protest marches that took place in Birmingham during the 1960s began at the steps of the 16th Street Baptist Church, which had long been a significant religious center for the city's black population and a routine meeting place for civil rights organizers like King. KKK members had routinely called in bomb threats intended to disrupt civil rights meetings as well as services at the church. ````````` At 10:22 a.m. on the morning of September 15, 1963, some 200 church members were in the building--many attending Sunday school classes before the start of the 11 am service--when the bomb detonated on the church's east side, spraying mortar and bricks from the front of the church and caving in its interior walls. Most parishioners were able to evacuate the building as it filled with smoke, but the bodies of four young girls (14-year-old Addie Mae Collins, Cynthia Wesley and Carole Robertson and 11-year-old Denise McNair) were found beneath the rubble in a basement restroom. Ten-year-old Sarah Collins, who was also in the restroom at the time of the explosion, lost her right eye, and more than 20 other people were injured in the blast. Aftermath of the Birmingham Church Bombing ````````` The bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church on September 15 was the third bombing in 11 days, after a federal court order had come down mandating the integration of Alabama's school system. In the aftermath of the bombing, thousands of angry black protesters gathered at the scene of the bombing. When Governor Wallace sent police and state troopers to break the protests up, violence broke out across the city; a number of protesters were arrested, and two young African American men were killed (one by police) before the National Guard was called in to restore order. King later spoke before 8,000 people at the funeral for three of the girls (the family of the fourth girl held a smaller private service), fueling the public outrage now mounting across the country. ~~~~~~~~ Though Birmingham's white supremacists (and even certain individuals) were immediately suspected in the bombing, repeated calls for the perpetrators to be brought to justice went unanswered for more than a decade. It was later revealed that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) had information concerning the identity of the bombers by 1965 and did nothing. (J. Edgar Hoover, then-head of the FBI, disapproved of the civil rights movement; he died in 1972.) In 1977, Alabama Attorney General Bob Baxley reopened the investigation and Klan leader Robert E. Chambliss was brought to trial for the bombings and convicted of murder. Continuing to maintain his innocence, Chambliss died in prison in 1985. The case was again reopened in 1980, 1988 and 1997, when two other former Klan members, Thomas Blanton and Bobby Frank Cherry, were finally brought to trial; Blanton was convicted in 2001 and Cherry in 2002. (A fourth suspect, Herman Frank Cash, died in 1994 before he could be brought to trial.) .. Lasting Impact of the Birmingham Church Bombing````````` Even though the legal system was slow to provide justice, the effect of the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church was immediate and significant. Outrage over the death of the four innocent girls helped build increased support behind the continuing struggle to end segregation--support that would help lead to the passage of both the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. In that important sense, the bombing's impact was exactly the opposite of what its perpetrators had intended. http://www.history.com/topics/birmingham-church-bombing
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stina.scott
created by: stina.scott

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Competitions

Blingee stamps used

23 graphics were used to create this "african american history" picture.
Black History Month =^-^=
Simple White Pattern
Four Little Girls, African American History Month. Cynthia Wesley  ~cbs
autumn background - melarocks_stamps - melarocks_bg
Deco fantasy frame,gold.
text FOUR LITTLE GIRLS gold  ~cbs
background ,.
SERCE Valentine HEART LOVE
Animated Background
pink water fantasy bg by b16
Gold Border
pink flower frame
Four Little Girls, African American History Month, Addie Mae Collins
Four Little Girls, African American History Month, Carole Robertson  ~cbs
Four Little Girls, African American History Month,  Denise McNair  ~cbs
Four Little Girls, African American History Month. Cynthia Wesley  ~cbs
Pink Frame
RAMCIA FRAME  TRANSPARENT  BORDER
FLOWER SNOW WINTER SPRINGTIME
Frame white
soave text february
me
text FOUR LITTLE GIRLS white  ~cbs
 
 

Comments

theswanprincessfan824

theswanprince... says:

3352 days ago
nice
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pennysworld says:

4397 days ago
awesome blingee
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caesar59 says:

4407 days ago
wonderful and good idea+5***********
forensicfeline

forensicfeline says:

4407 days ago
Your creation is very artistic, unique and beautiful.  The theme, colors and stamp usage is fantastic!

Good luck, Faith
http://blingee.com/group/79638-In-Black-White
ska777

ska777 says:

4408 days ago
╔══╗        
╚╗╔╝            
╔╝(¯`v´¯)
╚══`.¸.IT = 5 *☆*☆*☆*☆*☆*
Rhondalynne

Rhondalynne says:

4410 days ago
Wonderful :) I remember this story. 
LOLIV

LOLIV says:

4410 days ago
•✫BEUTIFUL WORK •✫
   *❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤*

 
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arentine says:

4411 days ago
.. -`҉҉´-
..-`҉҉´..)/.-`҉҉´-AWESOME
¨´“˜~.)/¸.~“˜¨
..¨´“˜~.“˜¨  Hugs and kisses, adele

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