Celebrate Black History In February

February is Black History Month. And it is a good time to remember the terrible price that was paid by many innocent Americans in the quest for equal rights. The plaque above commemorates the four innocent children killed in 1963 when racists bombed the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama. These deaths were tragic, but they were just a small part of the many deaths that happened to make this country realize the injustice it was doing to African-American citizens. We must never forget any of these injustices -- for history forgotten is history that will be repeated.

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SEPTEMBER 15, 1963
by Brian McLaughlin

How many people
remembered these girls
their smiling faces
their hair filled with curls

Victims of hatred
because they were black
prejudice raised its head
and just couldn't sit back

In a Birmingham church
on a Sunday morning
a bomb killed four children
four innocent girls

That splinter group known as
the Cahaba River Bridge Boys
treated their beloved KKK
to its demonic joys

But once push came to shove
and the loss of life hit so hard
the Civil Rights Act was born
equalities next card

Unknowingly these girls
gave their all for our people
in their death they became heroes
from under that steeple

Their Names

Addie Mae Collins (age 14)

Denise McNair (age 11)

Carole Robertson (age 14)

Cynthia Wesley (age 14)