Bending the Arc

200

hours of footage

behind the scenes

The long struggle against racism in Alabama

The Bending the Arc Project features the stories of both African Americans and a small group of little-known white allies who fought for racial justice during the Civil Rights Movement.

ABOUT

Four-part documentary mini-series

The four feature films and three additional features explore the history of race in Alabama, race as seen through the eyes of children, the brutal effects of segregation, resistance to racial injustice, allies of the 1960s Movement, voting rights, today’s continuing challenges, and pathways to empathy and hope.

FILMS

Roots of Racism

GROWING UP SEPARATE

RESISTANCE

The Vote

THE ALLIES

CONTINUING CHALLENGES

Pathways forward

First-hand accounts of the culture of segregation in Birmingham in the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s

80

voices in the films

learn & listen

200

hours of footage

learn & listen

Voices

60

voices who shared their stories

learn & listen

Bending the Arc | The Vote is a film about the hard-fought battle to expand voting rights to all people in Alabama in the 1960s. The film will premiere on Tuesday, October 20, at 6:30 PM CST via YouTube. Register for the free virtual event on Facebook or Eventbrite.

Hispanic Interest Coalition of Alabama

The Hispanic Interest Coalition of Alabama (HICA) is a community development and advocacy organization that champions economic equality, civic engagement, and social justice for Latino and immigrant families in Alabama. HICA was created in 1999 to address concerns relating to healthcare access, education, economic development, legal issues, and community outreach for immigrant Latinos.

Contact



1826 6th Avenue South, Irondale, AL 35210



PO Box 190299, Birmingham, AL 35219



hicaalabama.org

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(205) 942-5505



(866) 502-HICA(4422)

Shannon Leutzinger

Graphic & Web Designer

Shannon Leutzinger is a graphic designer who has nearly ten years of experience working in marketing and advertising agencies as well as with in-house marketing departments. When approached by the Bending the Arc team to design the project’s branding, motion graphics, and marketing deliverables, she was honored. This project not only utilized her love of all things design and development, but it also tapped into her passion for history, community impact, and positive change.

Justice Committee

Unitarian Universalist Church of Birmingham

The UUCB Justice Committee provides leadership for the social justice concerns of the church, metro area, state, nation, and the global community.

Contact



4300 Hampton Heights Drive, Birmingham, AL 35209

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justice@uucbham.org



(205) 945-8109

Behind the Magic Curtain: Secrets, Spies, and Unsung White Allies of Birmingham's Civil Rights Days

TK Thorne

As a former Birmingham police officer and long-time resident of Birmingham, T.K. Thorne has a unique perspective on Alabama's largest city, which is still known by many for its central role in the Civil Rights campaign against segregation in the 1960s. In Behind the Magic Curtain - a reference to Birmingham’s nickname of “The Magic City,” which was earned during a period of remarkable growth in the early 20th century - Thorne peels back the veil of history to show the nuances of how the city shook off the stranglehold of segregationists led in part by Public Safety Commissioner Eugene “Bull” Connor not just because of mostly-black civil rights marchers, but also by the progressive action of many white allies working behind the scenes in ways never fully explored. She also sheds light on how law enforcement monitored the Movement, and how journalists covered - or didn’t cover - the significant news story that would make Birmingham notorious.

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TK Thorne

The Road South

Shelley Stewart

Shelley Stewart’s long and arduous climb to success began at age five. That is the year he witnessed his mother’s murder at the hands of his alcoholic father. Family members shuffled young Shelley from house to house, but when he could no longer stand living with an abusive relative, he ran away at age six. Stewart endured homelessness, racial discrimination and depression, but he overcame those early hardships years later when he found his calling in radio. While working in Birmingham, the popular DJ became known as “Shelley the Playboy.” He also earned the unofficial title as “the voice of the civil rights movement” in the 1960s. During those years he made a practice of playing certain songs and repeating phrases on the air as secret codes that told teen activists where to meet up for protest demonstrations and rallies. In his memoir, The Road South, Stewart recounts his remarkable life, from child abuse survivor to celebrity radio host, entrepreneur and community leader.

(Grand Central Publishing)

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Shelley Stewart

Selma 1965: The March That Changed the South

Charles Fager

In Selma 1965: The March That Changed the South, Charles Fager details one of the most consequential events in the American civil rights movement: the 54-mile, nonviolent protest march, led by the Rev. Martin Luther King, from Selma to Alabama’s state capitol in Montgomery. Their aim: To push for equal voting rights for Black Americans. Those joining King included other civil rights leaders, clergy, celebrities, and ordinary citizens of various races. The triumphant march eventually led to the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which President Lyndon Johnson signed into law on August 6 of that year. Fager, a former staff member of King’s Southern Christian Leadership Conference, gives readers a comprehensive overview of what happened on that historic, five-day trek for freedom and justice. (CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform)

A Walk to Freedom

Marjorie White

The book A Walk to Freedom: the Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth and the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights, 1956-1964 tells the story of the civil rights movement in Birmingham led by the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights (ACMHR). Founded by the Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth, the ACMHR came into existence after Alabama banned the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) from operating in the state. Through speeches, news stories, more than 200 photographs and personal remembrances from those who participated in the demonstrations to end segregation, A Walk to Freedom gives readers insight into the history of the movement as it unfolded in the Magic City in the 1950s and 1960s.

A Time to Speak

Charles Morgan Jr

In 1963, as tensions in Birmingham between white segregationists and Black civil rights supporters boiled, a bomb exploded at the Sixteen Street Baptist Church on September 15. The blast killed four innocent Black girls and injured other congregants. Soon after the tragedy, Charles Morgan Jr., a young, white attorney stood before members of the all-white Young Men’s Business Club and said that every white person who failed to condemn racism was as guilty as the bombers. He said, “Who did it? Who threw that bomb? The answer should be, ‘We all did it.’” His speech drew the ire of whites, and Morgan and his family eventually left Birmingham for Atlanta where he became a well-respected civil rights attorney. Morgan recalls that turbulent period in his memoir, A Time to Speak, published in 1964. (Harper & Row)

The Newspaper Boy

Chervis Isom

In The Newspaper Boy, attorney and writer Chervis Isom reminisces about his days growing up in Birmingham’s Norwood community, where he delivered newspapers as a boy. Isom grew up believing in the notion that whites like him were superior to Blacks— that is, until he met the new customers on his route, Helen and Vern Miller. The Millers were a young couple from the North and had viewpoints contrary to Isom’s opinions. The three of them began to engage in friendly debates over events in the news, and, over time, Isom started to question the belief system of his upbringing. The Newspaper Boy is a fascinating look at how Isom’s views on race evolved while he lived through some of the most consequential events in modern American history, from the civil rights demonstrations and the U.S. Supreme Court’s Brown v. Board of Education decision to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. (Chervis Isom)

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Chervis Isom

The Informant: The FBI, the Ku Klux Klan, and the Murder of Viola Liuzzo

Gary May

In March 1965, civil rights worker Viola Liuzzo attended the Selma-to-Montgomery march for voting rights. Hours later, while she was giving a ride to another activist, a carload of Ku Klux Klansmen pulled alongside Liuzzo’s vehicle and someone in the car shot and killed her. Liuzzo’s murder made national headlines and law enforcement quickly identified and captured the perpetrators. That is because one of the men in car was Gary Thomas Rowe, an FBI informant. But in The Informant: The FBI, the Ku Klux Klan, and the Murder of Viola Liuzzo, author and historian Gary May gives details from formally undisclosed FBI records and Department of Justice documents to uncover a far more complicated partnership between Rowe, the FBI and the Klan. In addition, May sheds light on the how the FBI was complicit in other attacks on civil rights activists in an effort to keep Rowe’s undercover work a secret. (Yale University Press)

Bending the Arc

200

behind the scenes

The long struggle against racism in Alabama

Four-part documentary mini-series

Roots of Racism

GROWING UP SEPARATE

RESISTANCE

The Vote

THE ALLIES

CONTINUING CHALLENGES

Pathways forward

First-hand accounts of the culture of segregation in Birmingham in the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s

80

learn & listen

200

learn & listen

60

learn & listen

About

Films

Voices

Press

Resources

Contact

Hispanic Interest Coalition of Alabama

Contact

1826 6th Avenue South, Irondale, AL 35210

PO Box 190299, Birmingham, AL 35219

hicaalabama.org

(205) 942-5505

(866) 502-HICA(4422)

Shannon Leutzinger

Graphic & Web Designer

Justice Committee

Unitarian Universalist Church of Birmingham

Contact

4300 Hampton Heights Drive, Birmingham, AL 35209

justice@uucbham.org

(205) 945-8109

Behind the Magic Curtain: Secrets, Spies, and Unsung White Allies of Birmingham's Civil Rights Days

TK Thorne

Explore More

TK Thorne

The Road South

Shelley Stewart

Explore More

Shelley Stewart

Selma 1965: The March That Changed the South

Charles Fager

A Walk to Freedom

Marjorie White

A Time to Speak

Charles Morgan Jr

The Newspaper Boy

Chervis Isom

Explore More

Chervis Isom

The Informant: The FBI, the Ku Klux Klan, and the Murder of Viola Liuzzo

Gary May

Explore More

Anthony Liuzzo

Mary Liuzzo Lilleboe