60 years ago today, Sept. 15, 1963, it was youth Sunday at Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, AL. White supremacists bombed the church, murdering four young girls: Addie Mae Collins, Denise McNair, Carole Robertson, Cynthia Wesley.
White supremacy is just as alive and evil now as it was then and as it has been since white men first set foot on this continent. They call themselves many names, changing as often as necessary to hide themselves, usually behind pretenses of Christianity or Patriotism. First they called themselves the Ku Klux Klan, which they claimed was a Christian organization. "Patriots" is one of their favorite labels right now.
They want to ban history books and destroy public education to keep us from learning who they are and who they have always been. Hear me, friends: White supremacists want to control people of color. They want to control women. And to do this, they also must control education.
If we care about our nation, our neighbors, our children, and everything Jesus actually lived and taught, we must go to the ballot box with our own hearts and the very capable minds God gave us. We must listen to stories and read books they don't want us to hear and read. We must be "woke" to what they are working so hard to hide from us.
Rest in Peace, dear precious children. May your stolen lives awaken us.
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