MAY 2022
IRON CITY
VOLUME 6
ISSUE 12
INK STILL ON THE MARCH X
Gloria Washington Lewis-Randall still fighting for freedom since Birmingham’s Children’s Crusade. 14 INSIDE
CITY BEAT
City Beat World Games ‘hot ticket,’ retaining businesses, high-tech learning space. 6
HAPPENINGS
SIPS & BITES
BUSINESS
Business Happenings The latest news and updates from local and regional businesses. 8
ARTIST
NECK OF THE WOODS
Breaking the Color Line The inspiring story of Bill Terry Jr. 10
FACES
DISCOVER
MY O
JEFFC O
MYJEFFCO APP!
Scan and Download
Need to report a road issue? Illegal dumping? There’s an app for that! Introducing MyJeffco, now available for download for both ios and android phones. It’s as easy as setting up an account, entering your location and the issue. The app will let you know if the issue is outside of the County’s jurisdiction. There is also an extensive searchable FAQ section to help you find information.
People are our specialty. Homes are our business.
Integrity is our standard. Excellence is our result.
FIND YOUR FOREVER HOME TODAY AT REALT YSOUTH.COM
4
IRONCITY.INK
ABOUT
CITY BEAT
BUSINESS
SIPS & BITES
IRON CITY INK
HAPPENINGS
MAY 2022
ARTIST
FACES
NECK OF THE WOODS
DISCOVER
17 A CENTURY IN SYMPHONY: Alabama Symphony Orchestra to celebrate centennial on Memorial Day weekend.
CITY BEAT
NECK OF THE WOODS
DISCOVER
UAB: Young writers get support at Ada Long Creative Writing Workshop. 16
MAY’S BEST BETS: Your quick guide to metro Birmingham music and events scheduled this month. 19
CITY BEAT: World Games ‘hot ticket,’ retaining businesses, high-tech learning space. 6
FACES BREAKING THE COLOR LINE: The inspiring story of Bill Terry Jr. 10 NOBODY WINS BUT EVERYBODY CAN LOSE: Ukrainian-Americans locally worry about loved ones in war-torn Ukraine. 13
IRON CITY
INK
Publisher: Dan Starnes Managing Editor: Nick Patterson Community Editors: Jesse Chambers Jon Anderson Leah Ingram Eagle Neal Embry Sports Editor: Kyle Parmley
Community Reporter: Design Editor: Photo Editor: Page Designers:
Eric Taunton Melanie Viering Erin Nelson Kristin Williams Ted Perry
Contributing Writer: Solomon Crenshaw Jr.
Published by: Starnes Publishing LLC
Contact Information: Iron City Ink P.O. Box 530341 Birmingham, AL 35253 (205) 313-1780 dan@starnesmedia.com
Please submit all articles, information and photos to: jchambers@ starnesmedia.com P.O. Box 530341 Birmingham, AL 35253
Legals: Iron City Ink is published monthly. Reproduction or use of editorial or graphic content without prior permission is prohibited. Information in Iron City Ink is gathered from sources considered reliable, but the accuracy cannot be guaranteed. All articles/photos submitted become the property of Iron City Ink. We reserve the right to edit articles/photos as deemed necessary and are under no obligation to publish or return photos submitted. Inaccuracies or errors should be brought to the attention of the publisher at (205) 313-1780 or by email.
Please recycle this paper.
Client Success Specialists: Anna Bain Warren Caldwell Graphic Designer: Emily VanderMey Advertising: Michelle Salem Haynes Don Harris Jarrett Tyus Bob Willard Administrator: Anna Jackson
Advertising inquiries: dan@starnesmedia.com
ON THE COVER: Gloria Washington Lewis-Randall sits with her son Al Washington at her home March 21. Lewis-Randall was 16-years-old when she participated in the Birmingham Children’s March in 1963 and has remained active in telling her story to keep the history of the Civil Rights Movement alive in society. Photo Erin Nelson.
MAY 2022
IRON CITY INK
5
IRONCITY.INK
ABOUT
EDITOR’S NOTE
T
he calendar tells us that summer begins officially on June 21, the summer solstice. But for most of us, Memorial Day at the end of May represents the de facto beginning of the season. After all, the warmer weather we associate with summer usually begins in the South by May. But perhaps the most important signal of the start of summer, even for an old man like me, is the end of school. I vividly remember the sense of liberation I felt as a kid when school ended for the year. I love the lyrics to the Alice Cooper hit, “School’s Out for Summer,” released in 1972 at the end of my freshman year at Banks High School: “School's out for summer/ School's out forever.” As a kid, three months seems like forever,
COMMUNITY PARTNERS
so it feels like you’ve been liberated forever. Of course, being an adult has nothing to do with liberation. Being a grown-up means accepting more and more responsibility. And let’s face it. That’s hard, even when we wear a brave face. It’s natural to look back to your youth with nostalgia. You can’t go back, of course, but you can still try to savor a little taste of the joy and freedom your life once held. Happy summer y’all!
Bedzzz Express (20) Birmingham Barons (17) Birmingham Children’s Theatre (6) Birmingham Museum of Art (19) Bromberg’s & Company (7) Jefferson County Commission (2)
Max Transit (7) Neil Rafferty - Political (2) Pet Supplies Plus - Trussville (5) RealtySouth (3) Southern Home Structural Repair Specialists (17) TherapySouth Lakeview (19) Thomas Andrew Art (6)
FIND US Pick up the latest issue of Iron City Ink at the following locations or go to ironcity.ink/about-us for a complete list of our rack locations: ► Birmingham Public Library – Central Branch ► Birmingham Museum of Art ► Charm on 2nd
► Crestwood Coffee Co. Want to join this list ► Five Points Market or get Iron City Ink mailed ► East 59 Cafe & Vintage to your home? Contact ► Jim Reed Books buy 1 50% off the second 1 Anna Jackson at ajackson ► Yo’ Mama’s Restaurant @starnesmedia.com.
BUY ONE
GET ONE
50% OFF
Select Redford Naturals for dogs & cats
Now open in Trussville
for PPC members Valid 5/1/22 - 5/31/22 While supplies last
1 Hour Curbside Pickup
Full-Service Grooming
Self-Service Pet Wash
Price Match Guarantee
Pet Supplies Plus Trussville | 1672 Gadsden Hwy | 205.582.1488 | petsuppliesplus.com
6
IRONCITY.INK
CITY BEAT
BUSINESS
SIPS & BITES
IRON CITY INK
HAPPENINGS
ARTIST
MAY 2022
FACES
NECK OF THE WOODS
DISCOVER
World Games ‘hot ticket,’ retaining businesses, high-tech learning space
T
By JESSE CHAMBERS
his month in City Beat, we learn about one of the unique sports at The World Games 2022 Birmingham this summer. The city of Birmingham is taking steps to retain and attract small businesses. A local technology nonprofit recently unveiled a new learning space at a city school. The arts community mourns the late Carl Stewart, co-founder of two local theater companies. And a display of lights at Regions Center downtown heralds the return of a major golf tournament.
UP THE WALL
The World Games 2022 Birmingham, scheduled for July 7-17, calls itself a “new generation” of sport competition with 3,600 athletes competing in unique, multi-disciplinary sports. One sport sure to attract attention in Birmingham is sport climbing, to be held on
a 50-foot wall at Sloss Furnaces. In sport climbing, which made its Olympic debut in Tokyo in 2021, rock climbers compete on artificial structures. It should be one of “the most exciting events” at TWG2022, said the event’s CEO, Nick Sellers. Sport climbing “tests each athlete physically, mentally and emotionally,” Sellers said. “It will be a hot ticket.” There are three types or disciplines of sport climbing. In Speed, two climbers race to the top of the 50-foot wall. In Lead, climbers have six minutes to climb as far up a 15-meter wall as possible. In Boulder, climbers attempt to climb as many set routes as possible within a time limit and score points based on difficulty. A total of 72 athletes will compete in Birmingham, and there will be gold, silver and bronze medals for men and women in each of the disciplines. Danyil Boldyrev of Ukraine and Natalia Kalucka of Poland, the fastest climbers in the world; Miho Nonaka of Japan, who won silver at the Tokyo Olympics; and legendary Italian climber Stefano Ghisolf, with 15 career medals in the Climbing World Cup,
Birmingham_Childrens_Theatre_2_2022_108_5_1_1042162_SP__P_J55_V1
4.56” x 5.5”
19 Apr 2022
Regions Bank is celebrating the return of the Regions Tradition golf tournament with special lighting on its downtown headquarters through May 15. Photo courtesy of Regions Bank.
are expected to compete at TWG2022.
BUSINESS RISING
The Birmingham City Council approved an ordinance March 29 designed to support the growth and retention of Birmingham
businesses. RISE (Retention Incentives for Success and Expansion) establishes a cash incentive fund and a revolving loan fund to provide resources to local businesses, according to a city news release. “A strong business community makes for a strong economy and a thriving city,” Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin said. “Many municipalities have focused on recruitment efforts, but not necessarily retention and expansion,” said Cornell Wesley, director of the city’s Department for Innovation And Economic Opportunity. Businesses will be eligible for the incentives or loans if they retain and expand their employee base and operate in the city. New startups that create at least five full-time jobs or a small business that was declined for a loan will also be considered for funding.
INNOVATIVE SPACES
The nonprofit Ed Farm unveiled the South Hampton K-8 Innovation Library at South Hampton Elementary School in Birmingham March 25 along with Birmingham City Schools.
MAY 2022
IRON CITY INK
7
IRONCITY.INK
CITY BEAT It’s the first learning space designed for the Ed Farm “Spaces” initiative, according to an Ed Farm news release. “Where students learn matters, and our goal is to create spaces - where traditionally underserved students learn - that inspire creativity, imagination, and collaboration,” said Ed Farm President Waymond Jackson. “Modern technology and industry require modern teaching and learning.” The South Hampton learning labs encourage making, tinkering, engineering and design with coding kits, robot kits, 3D printers and more. Students will have access to Apple products like MacBook, Apple TV, iPad and Apple Pencil.
‘ALWAYS ENTERTAINING’
Magic City theater legend Carl W. Stewart, who co-founded Birmingham Festival Theatre in 1972 and Terrific New Theatre in 1986, died March 14 at the age of 80. Surrounded by family and friends, Stewart died peacefully of natural causes at UAB Hospital, according to a TNT news release. A memorial service was to be held in April. “Carl Stewart’s spirit and love of theater will live in all of us who knew him," TNT Executive Director Tam DeBolt said. Stewart retired as TNT artistic director
in 2016 at the close of its 30th season and was known as a pioneer in the Birmingham theater scene. The actor, director and producer “forever changed the landscape of the performing-arts scene in Birmingham by introducing a brand of theater that was new to mainstream audiences here in the 1970s and 1980s: avantgarde, sometimes controversial, often racy, but always entertaining,” said Chuck Evans, TNT interim board president.
BIG DISPLAY
The annual Regions Tradition golf tournament — one of five major championships on the PGA Tour of Champions — returns to Greystone Golf & Country Club from May 11-15. To celebrate, Regions Bank has installed special colored lights on all four sides of the Regions Center downtown showing the image of a golfer, according to a bank news release. The lighting, which begins nightly at 8 p.m. and continues through May 15, provides a 360-degree view from anywhere near downtown. The Regions Tradition benefits Children’s of Alabama, as well as other organizations. For more information, go to regions tradition.com.
A competitive speed climber on the wall at The World Games 2017. The sport will be part of The World Games 2022 Birmingham and will be held at Sloss Furnaces. Photo courtesy of The World Games.
NAVARRA COLLECTION
8 CITY BEAT
IRONCITY.INK
BUSINESS
SIPS & BITES
IRON CITY INK
HAPPENINGS
ARTIST
MAY 2022
FACES
NECK OF THE WOODS
DISCOVER
Business Happenings OPENINGS/CLOSURES Perfect Note Express, the café with soul, opened recently in the basement of Birmingham City Hall, 710 20th St. N., according to a city news release. Offering breakfast and lunch, the eatery is operated by the husband-and-wife team of Tremayne and Karen Thompson. They also own a dinner theater in Hoover, The Perfect Note Live Music and Dining, which opened in 2016. 205-254-2000
locally made ice cream and 50 flavors of cotton candy, according to the shop’s website. 205-502-7401, thespuncow.com The One Place Metro Alabama Family Justice Center held a grand opening on April 13, according to a One Place news release. One Place, 3613 Sixth Ave. S., exists to make it easier for victims and survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault to access services and resources and develop a safe plan of action. 205-453-7261, oneplacebirmingham.com Described as a New York-style deli that serves ‘piled high’ sandwiches, I Love Tina & Gina’s was scheduled to open its Birmingham location at The Pizitz Food Hall on April 16, according to an announcement from the company.
CONSTRUCTION UPDATE Construction continues on CityWalk BHAM, a 31acre linear park to be located under the new I-59/20 bridge near Uptown. The park will span 10 blocks along Ninth Avenue North between 15th Street North and 25th Street North. The park will offer such amenities as a dog park, a skate park, outdoor classrooms and an amphitheater. Construction is expected to be complete in time for The World Games 2022 Birmingham in July. For updates, go to citywalkbham.com
Avadian Credit Union relocated its downtown branch to Midtown near the Rotary Trail on March 21, according to a news release from the not-profit, member-owned financial cooperative. The branch features three video-capable automatic teller machines, two in the entryway and one in the parking garage. 888-282-3426, avadiancu.com Lady E’s Chick’n Cafe, located at 1905 Park Place downtown, is now open. The eatery serves chicken wings with 17 different sauces, sides and other dishes. facebook.com/ladyeschickncafe Tha Vibe Bar and Lounge is now open at 3801 Richard Arrington Jr. Blvd. N. near North Avondale and East Birmingham. The operator, Kay Carter, also owns The Nail Nook salon, according to bhamnow. com. 205-202-3022, facebook.com/thavibeontenth The Spun Cow — serving milkshakes, floats, ice cream, and cotton candy — opened in early April at The Pizitz Food Hall downtown. The Spun Cow offers
in phases, including single-family, multi-family and senior housing, as well as a commercial town center. There will be an estimated 900 residents. 205-254-2000, birminghamal.gov The Million Dollar Round Table Foundation, 1214 81st St. S., recently awarded $5,000 to Birmingham nonprofit Fresh Air Family Inc. The money will support science education for Alabama children in a fun, safe outdoor environment, according to a Fresh Air Family news release. Financial aid is available is needed in order for children to attend. Attendees at the camps are also exposed to advanced science and math 205-540-6642, freshairfamily.org The Economic Development Partnership of Alabama (EDPA), 1320 First Ave. S., will launch its inaugural Fuel AL Fellowship this summer, offering interns from the Birmingham area the chance to travel to Huntsville, Montgomery, and Mobile and sample the history, culture, and professional opportunities of the state. Students must be enrolled at an Alabama college or university and employed for a paid summer 2022 internship starting no later than June 3. Students can apply at fuelalabama.org. 205-943-4700, edpa.org
NEWS AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS Harmony Venture Labs, a Birmingham-based venture studio that launches and develops high-growth startups, has announced its first studio venture: CoWello, an all-in-one space management platform that helps business owners get the most out of their wellness center space. The tool enables space owners to operate their business through an operations dashboard that facilitates flexible booking options, inventory management, integrated billing and payments and multilocation management. “Our team has a wide breadth of experience and a strong personal passion for supporting wellness in its many forms,” said Oz Imaghodor, a Homewood resident and entrepreneur-in-residence at CoWello. cowello.com On March 8, the Birmingham City Council passed an ordinance authorizing the sale and development of real estate with Green Meadow Apartments LLC, according to a city news release. The development team is all African American, including the general contractor. The city sold about 222 acres of land located near Lakeshore Parkway at 1911 Tiger Walk to Green Meadow Apartments for $1.5 million. Green Meadow Apartments will develop the project
General contractor Brasfield & Gorrie, 3021 Seventh Ave. S., won three national awards from Associated Builders and Contractors at the 32nd annual Excellence in Construction awards banquet in San Antonio on March 16. The awards were in several market sectors. Two projects earned first-place Eagle Awards, a federal courthouse in South Carolina and a research facility in North Carolina. One project — an Airbus assembly hangar in Mobile — won a second-place Pyramid award. 205-328-4000, brasfieldgorrie.com/office/ birmingham On March 28, the Birmingham City Council approved an incentive agreement to help bring a new grocery store to the west side of Birmingham — a Food Giant to be located at 2220 Bessemer Road. The new store will be 25,000 square feet; half the size of the old
MAY 2022
IRON CITY INK
IRONCITY.INK
9
BUSINESS Winn Dixie, making it more cost-effective to operate, according to a city news release. The incentive package includes $640,000 strictly for tenant improvements and modernization. The agreement also includes a 10-year revenue share that will be capped at $1 million. The incentive agreement is being financed from a $2 million spending plan earmarked for grocery store recruitment. 205-254-2000, birminghamal.gov
Regions Bank, 2200 Fifth Ave. N., announced March 31 that the company had received the 2022 Gallup Exceptional Workplace Award for the eighth year. The award recognizes the most engaged workplace cultures in the world, and the Gallup research includes studies of millions of employees across all industries, according to a Regions news release. 205-326-5151, regions.com Dread River Distilling Co., 2400 Seventh Ave. S., announced in late March that it would release its own straight bourbon—made in downtown Birmingham— statewide on May 1. Dread River Bourbon will be available statewide via the Alabama ABC distribution network, for both wholesale and retail purchase, The distillery opened nearly three years ago. Distilled from a mash bill of corn, wheat and malted barley, Dread River’s straight bourbon is aged more than two years, finished in Caribbean rum casks and bottled at 90 proof. It is the first bourbon distilled on a commercial scale downtown in more than 100 years. 205-588-1744, dreadriver.com Mayor Randall L. Woodfin announced March 9 that he had reappointed Willie Jean Lewis to the Board of Commissioners of the Housing Authority of Birmingham District (HABD). Lewis was first appointed to the board in 2016, and her term runs through August 13, 2026, according to
a city news release. A 1957 graduate of Parker High School, Lewis attended the New York Institute of Technology. She has volunteered with numerous organizations and nonprofits. The HABD is the largest public housing agency in Alabama with 5,100 public housing units at 14 sites in the city. 205-254-2000, birminghamal.gov Balch & Bingham, 1901 Sixth Ave. N., Suite 1500, announced April 5 that the firm has been recognized by Chambers & Partners as leaders in their fields of practice in its Chambers Global 2022 Guide. The Chambers rankings are based on independent research and client interviews, according to a Balch & Bingham news release. Chambers is recognized for Energy: Nuclear (Regulatory & Litigation) in the new guide. 205-251-8100, balch.com More than 800 Black business owners in Birmingham applied for the inaugural Magic City Match grant program, and an independent committee recently selected a cohort of 25 to move forward in the process, according to a news release from the nonprofit IGNITE! Funded by Prosper and presented by IGNITE! as well as REV Birmingham and Urban Impact, Magic City Match is designed to increase business competency and provide access to capital and new market opportunities for Black business owners with brick-and-mortar locations in Birmingham. These 25 Black-owned businesses have been selected for the inaugural Magic City Match program: Cameron Crummie, MDV ; Aurelia Davis, Salon Textures; Reginald Davis; LaTisha Fletcher, Sankofa Ventures; Greg & Cynthia Gratton, Green Acres Cafe Downtown; Carla Green, Kloud 9; Joi Iman Gresham, Joi Iman; Alisha Jiwani, Nia Benefit Corporation; Jay Johnson, Johnson Media Group Inc., College Prep U; LaToya Jolly, Jolly Cakes; Wanda & Eugene Jones, Talk of the Town Barbershop; Alexis Kimbrough, Herban Soul Café ; Tangy King-Essex, Squeaky Clean Cleaning Company; Matthew Mayes, Matthew Mayes Art; Martrell McGinnis, Rid-A-Bug Pest Control and Termite; Heather Skanes, Oasis Family Birthing Center; Ursula Smith, Ursula Smith Dance; Tiffany Storey, Storeyhouse Counseling & Consulting; Theuda Tusajiwe, N’mosa Fabrics; Jon Westbrook, Stez Eats; Andre Williams, MADD Studios; Lavoris Williams, L Williams and Associates; Corey Whatley, Woodlawn Bar & Lounge; Krystal White, Properties and Pipelines; Dexter Young Jr., Henley & Young. igniteal.org
PERSONNEL MOVES Real estate professionals Jessica Stockdale, David Brown, Judy Nevett Talley and Kelvin Wilson joined the EXIT Realty Birmingham office in Lakeview in March, according to a news release from the company. Hayley Harper joined EXIT Legacy Realty in Leeds. 205-202-2747, exitrealtybirmingham.com Innovation Depot, 1500 First Ave. N., recently made two new hires for its programs department, accord-
ing to an April 6 report at AL.com. Heather Milam will serve as director of acceleration, and Katherine Zobre will serve as director of training. Milam was a senior analyst with Avenu Insights & Analytics. Zobre comes from the Alabama Small Business Development Center Network, where she worked as a business advisor. 205-250-8000, innovationdepot.org FC Birmingham announced the hiring of Kat Nichols as head coach for its women’s team in March. United Women’s Soccer announced in January there would be a new Birmingham franchise. A Texas native, Nichols played soccer at Samford University and has been coached for numerous Birmingham-area clubs for 17 years. Founded in 2020, FC Birmingham is a semi-pro soccer club with men’s and women’s teams, according to the club Facebook page. fcbirmingham.com, Facebook @fcbham Birmingham Mayor Randall L. Woodfin has announced new appointments in the Department of Community Development, which administers the City’s Housing and Urban Development Grants, implements plans, enforces code and does community assessments and outreach. The following appointments begin on April 1, according to a city news release: Chris Hatcher, recovery czar/chief community planner; Dr. Meghan V. Thomas, director of community development; Adrienne Stitt, director of the grants division; Cory Stallworth, senior deputy director of community development; and Wendy Hicks, deputy director of community development. 205-254-2000, birminghamal.gov
ANNIVERSARIES Avondale Common House, 4100 3rd Ave. S., is celebrating its fifth anniversary May 11. 205-703-9895, avondalecommonhouse.com
10
IRONCITY.INK
BUSINESS
SIPS & BITES
HAPPENINGS
SIGHTS
IRON CITY INK
ARTIST
MAY 2022
FACES
NECK OF THE WOODS
BREAKING THE COLOR LINE IN DEATH
DISCOVER Left: A crowd follows the hearse carrying Bill Terry Jr.’s body for reinterment in Elmwood Cemetery on Jan. 3, 1970. Photo courtesy of The Birmingham News. Bottom left: Bill Terry Jr., center, is flanked by Charlie Woodruff, left, and a soldier named Johnson. Photos courtesy of Alabama NewsCenter.
A Black Alabama soldier was killed in Vietnam, then broke the color line at Elmwood Cemetery
P
By SOLOMON CRENSHAW JR.
hyllis Palmer remembers laughing when her brother talked about being buried at Elmwood Cemetery. The year was 1968, and the United States was involved in the Vietnam War. Bill Terry Jr. would soon ship out as a private in the Army. And he made his wishes known. “When Bill left, he said that if he didn’t come back home, make it back safely, that he would like to be buried at Elmwood,” Palmer said. “Of course, back then that was impossible. We kind of laughed about it.” Did a 13-year-old Palmer laugh because she couldn’t fathom her brother dying? Or because the reality of Blacks and Elmwood was too real? In hindsight, Palmer remembers thinking her brother was joking. “Yeah, I did,” she said. “Like I said, we laughed about it.”
But Terry was gravely committed to his desire, repeating it in a letter to family before he was indeed killed in battle on July 3, 1969. During Black History Month, Rosa Parks is remembered for taking a stand by sitting on a Montgomery bus. Would-be diners took a stand by taking seats at lunch counters and countless people marched so they and others could step to the polls. Likely few remember the man who took a step after he had taken his last. Terry, who was posthumously promoted to corporal, is the Army soldier who broke the color barrier that extended to the grave. Before his stance, Blacks could not be buried in “white” cemeteries. Prior to going to Vietnam and in a subsequent letter to his family, Terry said that if he were killed fighting for his country that he wanted to be buried in Elmwood, the 412-acre cemetery on the west end of Sixth Avenue South at Martin Luther King Jr. Drive in Birmingham.
MAY 2022
IRON CITY INK
IRONCITY.INK
11
FACES
Above: Phyllis Palmer looks at a photo of her brother, Bill Terry Jr. Right: A gift from the American Legion to Phyllis Palmer.
Terry, who was born on Feb. 23, 1949, would now be 73. His birthday was remembered during a Sunday service at Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Church, his family’s church, which was integral in efforts to achieve his final wish. That wish was initially denied by owners of Elmwood and he was buried at Shadow Lawn. As a student at Samford University in December 2001, David Murphy wrote a research paper on Terry — “Discrimination Among the Dead: A Narrative and Contextual Analysis of Bill Terry’s Integration of Elmwood Cemetery.” He wrote about and others remember the role of Father Eugene Ferrell, the Terry family pastor at Our Lady of Fatima. Ferrell was a major spokesman and activist for the cause. Murphy wrote that while Ferrell had been assigned to Birmingham previously as a teacher at Immaculate High School at Our Lady of Fatima on his third assignment from 1962 to 1965, his return to Birmingham for his fifth assignment in 1966 was his first experience as the senior pastor of a church.
It was with Ferrell’s guidance that Terry’s mother and widow sued Elmwood Cemetery in federal court on July 25, 1969 with the aid of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund and attorney Oscar W. Adams to seek an end to the discrimination policy, $10,000 in damages, $500 to remove Terry’s body from Shadow Lawn and $1,500 in attorney’s fees. U.S. District Judge Seybourn Lynne ruled that Elmwood was legally obligated to sell burial plots to any U.S. citizen, “without regard to race or color.” Douglass Moorer grew up with Terry. He was heading to college when Terry was heading to the Army. The childhood friends agreed they would get together after four years “and tell lies about all the stuff we had endured those four years.” “A little less than six months later, I got a letter from my mother, informing me Bill had been killed in Vietnam.” Charlie Woodruff was present when Terry lost his life in a firefight with Viet Cong. He was also present when his friend penned the letter that repeated his desire to be buried at Elmwood.
“I met Bill Terry at the airport, both of us on our way to Vietnam,” the 76-year-old Wenonah native and Childersburg resident said. “As a matter of fact, when we got there, we wound up in the same company and in the same platoon. I carried the M-60 and he carried the grenade launcher. “We were combat soldiers,” Woodruff said. “We’d been on a whole lot of searchand-destroy missions, but he got killed on the third of July.” Moorer, now a deacon at Our Lady of Fatima, said his friend and his church — under the leadership of Ferrell — wanted to see things change. “Bill’s legacy is not just here at Our Lady of Fatima, or here in Birmingham, Alabama, or at Elmwood Cemetery,”
Moorer said. “There are people who experience his legacy without even knowing it, everywhere in the country. “Because of what happened here with Bill Terry, that cemetery and those cemeteries even in California now bury Blacks in the same cemetery as whites,” he continued. “The legacy of Bill Terry goes far beyond these walls (of the church), far beyond just being local. Bill’s desire to be buried at Elmwood was something that changed all of the landscape here in this country in an area of racism that we never would have looked at.” Terry’s body was exhumed from Shadow
See COLOR LINE | page 12
12 BUSINESS
IRONCITY.INK
SIPS & BITES
HAPPENINGS
SIGHTS
IRON CITY INK
ARTIST
Top: Roderick Palmer holds a photo of his late brother-in-law, Bill Terry Jr. Bottom: The Birmingham Times from Aug. 14, 1969 tells of Elmwood Cemetery’s refusal to accept Bill Terry Jr.’s body for interment.
COLOR LINE
CONTINUED from page 11 Lawn on Jan. 3, 1970 and a processional estimated at 1,000 people marched more than half a mile to his final resting place. An article in the Jan. 4, 1970 edition of The Birmingham News said Farrell spoke at the church before the march to Elmwood. “We are gathered today, not for a funeral service,” he said. “It is not a time for mourning, but rejoicing. We rejoice that we on Earth have been able to respond to his last will.” Attorney U.W. Clemon was part of the legal team that fought for the Terry family. “We were very gratified at the judge’s decision because we knew what it meant,” he said. “Elmwood was such a citadel of segregation. To have torn down that wall was important to us and we felt good about it. “[Terry] had a premonition just before he was killed and he wrote a letter to his parents and told them that if he were killed, he wanted to be buried at Elmwood.” Murphy, now working in hospital chaplaincy, said, “That’s an interesting thing for a young man to say, thinking about going overseas and fighting in Vietnam. One of the things he thinks to tell his loved ones before he goes is, ‘If I come home in a box, I want you to put me in that cemetery over there.’ And he knew it was segregated. It’s a
fascinating thing to think about, his mindset on that.” While the home where Terry grew up has been torn down, a monument is in the works to remember his church and his sacrifice. Paula Stanton chairs the Titusville Marker Committee, whose aim is to erect markers at historic locations in the community. Our Lady of Fatima has been tabbed for a marker. “The committee recognized the role that the church played in the desegregation of Elmwood Cemetery,” Stanton said. “That was one of the reasons why we selected it as one of the sites here in Titusville to honor and to place historic markers. The marker committee wanted to honor (the church’s efforts to have Terry moved to Elmwood) by putting a marker at the church that explained exactly what happened. “So often people living right here don’t know a whole lot about this community,” she continued. “We thought this was a way that we could inform and honor what had happened.” Roderick Palmer, Phyllis’ husband, said his brother-in-law’s story is powerful. “History like that should be taught and told because it’s very important,” he said. “The guy sacrificed his life for the country and this is what he had to go through to get put down there with the white people.”
MAY 2022
FACES
NECK OF THE WOODS
DISCOVER
MAY 2022
BUSINESS
SIPS & BITES
HAPPENINGS
IRON CITY INK
SIGHTS
ARTIST
13
IRONCITY.INK
FACES
NECK OF THE WOODS
DISCOVER
Left: Yakov Lyublinskiy, a personal trainer at the Levite Jewish Community Center, demonstrates an exercise for Barbara Gordon during a training session March 24. Right: Yakov stands in front of the Levite Jewish Community Center. Photos by Erin Nelson.
Nobody wins but everybody can lose Ukrainian-Americans locally worry about loved ones in war-torn Ukraine
Y
By ERIC TAUNTON akov Lyublinskiy and his daughter, Angelica Lyublinskiy, have trouble sleeping at night. The Ukrainian-Americans are worried about their friends and family in Ukraine, some even hiding in basements. in their home country of Ukraine in the midst of an ongoing Russian invasion. Some of their friends and family have been able to flee to Poland and Germany, Yakov said, but others, like his wife’s father, grandmother and cousins, are forced to stay in Ukraine. “Victoria’s father has to stay because her grandmother had a stroke a couple of months ago and also has a broken hip so she can not be moved,” said Yakov, a personal trainer and Birmingham resident. “Overall, it’s just heartbreaking,” Angelica said, “It’s heartbreaking to see my family so distraught and worried, especially my mom because it’s her sister that had to flee Kyiv. There are countless nights where she doesn’t get any sleep and because of that, I don’t get any sleep. It’s just a constant worry.” She said even though she’s lived in the U.S. most of her life, she still grew up in Ukrainian culture and feels connected to it. “It really hits home seeing my people being basically slaughtered and I feel
hopeless,” she said. “I feel like I’m not doing enough and I just want to do more. It's a very hopeless feeling.” Their family created a GoFundMe campaign to help Victoria’s sister, Julia, flee Ukraine with her two sons. She was separated from them when fleeing Ukraine but reunited when they all reached Germany, Yakov said. “The thing that’s bothering me about this situation is uncertainty,” he said. “We don’t know what the fate of Ukraine is going to be, what the fate of millions of people will be or the fate of refugees. Are they going to live indefinitely in refugee camps, are they going to be able to come back? When will the conflict be over?” Father and daughter said they are seeing their country’s history repeating itself. Ukraine is no stranger to struggling for independence and its own identity. In the mid-1800s, for instance, with the majority of Ukrainian territory under Russian rule, the Russian government interrupted the distribution of Ukrainian literature and made it illegal to speak Ukrainian, with citizens being shot if they were caught speaking the language. “It’s a humanitarian crisis and if we don’t do anything about it, history’s just going to repeat itself,” said Angelica, a studio manager and junior producer in Birmingham. “The whole point of learning history is to not make the same mistakes, and I think the more we talk about it and
raise awareness, the more people will actually want to do something.” Yakov and Angelica have been raising money for Ukraine and awareness of the conflict. Yakov has been featured on media outlets and donated to humanitarian groups. Angelica held an art show at Dave’s Pub in March that raised about $600 for Ukraine. “I got a lot of artists involved, they donated their art and I donated mine,” she said. It’s important to talk about the current crisis, she said, to fight misinformation so people have the facts and are inspired to help. “That’s how evil prevails, by not doing anything,” Angelica said. Yakov worries about the future of both Ukraine and Russia. He grew up loving Russian movies, music and literature. He said because Russia and Ukraine are so close, Russians and Ukrainians have friends and family in both countries. He said Vladimir Putin is destroying people’s love of Russia “indefinitely” and committing crimes against Ukraine and his own people. “Putin is sending those kids to die for what?” Yakov said. “There is no winning for him in this conflict. Even if he were to take all of Ukraine tomorrow, it would take just over a million soldiers and only in the big city centers to control the city centers.”
He said there is no positive outcome for Russia in the war, which is what worries him. “There is no winning end for Putin and Russia in this conflict but he can make sure that everybody loses,” Yakov said. “He can use tactical, chemical and nuclear weapons. Russia could be a pariah indefinitely.” He was born and raised in a small town called Podilskyi in western Ukraine in the former Soviet Union and came to the U.S. when he was 27 years-old with his mother and other relatives to escape anti-Semitism. He had just started dating Victoria and they had to decide their next steps. “She was 18, I was 26 and I knew I was going to be leaving and we had to decide what we were going to do,” Yakov said. He was told they would have to get married and Victoria would have to apply for citizenship in order to live with Yakov in America. They got married and Yakov soon immigrated to the U.S. with his family. When Yakov was about to move with his family, Victoria was pregnant with Angelica, he said. He left for America right before she was born in 1997. It would be two years before he saw his wife and child again. Yakov began his current job as a personal trainer at Levite Jewish Community Center in 2004. He’s also a massage therapist, physical therapist and martial arts instructor at Birmingham Country Club and Lakeview Fitness.
14 CITY BEAT
IRONCITY.INK
BUSINESS
SIPS & BITES
HAPPENINGS
IRON CITY INK
ARTIST
MAY 2022
FACES
NECK OF THE WOODS
DISCOVER
Gloria Washington Lewis-Randall still fighting for freedom since Birmingham’s Children’s Crusade.
STILL ON THE MARCH
By NICK PATTERSON
M
ay in downtown Birmingham always means generally warm weather, gearing up for city center events and the end of the school year. In 2022, a continual reawakening from the impact of the ongoing pandemic. But for Gloria Washington Lewis-Randall, May is always a reminder. This month in 1963, she was a student at Birmingham’s Parker High School and was marching right into the middle of a big historical moment. As a part of what was to be called the Children’s Crusade, teenaged Gloria Washington was a foot soldier in the Birmingham Civil Rights Movement, and before the end of May, she will have faced down fire hoses and menacing police, and spent several days in jail. She was one of more than 1,000 school age children arrested during the Birmingham marches for peacefully protesting segregation. Fifty-nine years was a long time ago. But Lewis-Randall, who lives in Birmingham’s West End community, makes sure people don’t forget. “I enjoy telling my stories,” she said. “Anything I can do to help someone else understand a little better where I’m coming from.” In an era where teaching about the racial history of America is being challenged on political grounds, many are concerned that knowledge of fraught and uncomfortable subjects like the civil rights movement is under threat. “Sadly, more and more, this history is being challenged and even erased in our culture and, right now, in our schools,
through tactics like curriculum restrictions and outright book bans. Truths about black history we once considered hard but self-evident are now being erased before our eyes,” said Somil Trivedi, a senior staff attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union on the ACLU podcast At Liberty. “Over 30 state legislatures across the country have introduced bills to limit the discussion of racial history in a wave prompted by the emergence of critical race theory as a subject of political fear-mongering,” Trivedi said. But survivors of the Birmingham Movement, like Lewis-Randall, are still telling their truths. “I don’t want to forget,” she said. “These stories — after we’re gone, they just need to be recorded and remembered.” Over the years, Lewis-Randall has appeared in all kinds of public forums to share her story, often sharing the spotlight with other surviving civil rights activists from Birmingham. She has written poetry, spoken at churches and libraries, been featured in documentary films, interviewed by the local media, and more national outlets like The New York Times. Recently, Lewis-Randall took part in an upcoming album, with music about Birmingham made by various artists alternating with her voice talking about issues that matter to her.. The album, which will be announced soon, was curated by Tim Martin, a local activist with the group Bham Stands, who met Lewis-Randall when he brought foot soldiers together with poets for an earlier project. “Gloria … she’s just a caring, genuine individual, so we’ve stayed in touch,”
Martin said. “I’ve always appreciated her heart. She’s always praying and loving, and all of that.” Martin said that the Birmingham-centric album features Lewis-Randall on every other track, “either detailing part of her story or on gun violence today, racism today. It might be today, or it might be related to the past.” He said Lewis-Randall still inspires him today. “She doesn’t back off, and it’s always rooted in love, for sure,” he said. On Feb. 19, Lewis-Randall took part in the annual “Black Pride Ride Caravan of Hope,” sponsored by the nonprofit Brenda’s Brown Bosom Buddies, which raises awareness and provides support around patients diagnosed with breast cancer. “I talked to them about knowing your history and being familiar with it,” she said. Before some of her activities were curtailed by the pandemic, Lewis-Randall spent more than eight years as a regular annual speaker at the Children’s Defense Fund event held at Alex Haley Farms in Tennessee, which includes a showing of “Mighty Times: The Children’s March,” a 2004 documentary which features Lewis-Randall among other surviving foot soldiers. “I come on and I talk for about an hour each session. I have like 3-4 sessions a day, and I enjoy that because I get to meet so many young people who are just super intelligent. They know a lot of things.” In 2018, Lewis-Randall appeared in an episode of Wyatt Cenac’s “Problem Areas.” The HBO show, hosted by comedian Cenac, addressed a number of contemporary issues, including a segment about “police apologies.” In it, Lewis-Randall
A photograph of Gloria Washington Lewis-Randall, center, is seen on the back cover of “Mighty Times The Children’s March” documentary booklet. Lewis-Randall was 16-yearsold when she participated in the Birmingham Children’s March in 1963 and has remained active in telling her story to keep the history of the Civil Rights Movement alive in society. Photo by Erin Nelson.
touched on her part in the events that eventually led Birmingham Police Chief A.C. Roper to apologize to the community. “In the ‘60s when I was a teenager, I participated in civil rights marches,” she told Cenac. “Since then I have continued on that road to activism.” In the episode, she talked about being turned upside down by the force of a water cannon under the command of then Birmingham Public Safety Commissioner Eugene "Bull” Connor. “I am deaf in my left ear today, because [of] the water hose,” she said.
GLORIA’S STORY
A retired school teacher and social worker, Lewis-Randall has told many times about how she became a foot soldier in the Birmingham Movement, as documented in “Birmingham Foot Soldiers: Voices from the Civil Rights Movement” (full disclosure: the author of that book is the writer of this article). As 15-year-old Gloria Washington, she lived in Birmingham’s Smithfield neighborhood when the 1963 demonstrations occurred. “Dr. Martin Luther King was speaking at a lot of churches, preferably Sixteenth Street Baptist Church,” she recalled in Birmingham Foot Soldiers. “He was spellbinding. I would listen to the things he would say and I recognized all of the questions that I used to ask my mother — “Ma, why I got to sit in the back of this bus? Or why can’t I go to the zoo and ride a train? Or why can’t I go to East Lake park this evening — you know on Sunday evenings when you’re riding after church? And she’d always say, ‘That’s just the way it is.’” In contrast, she said, they could watch
MAY 2022
IRON CITY INK
15
IRONCITY.INK
FACES television and see that whites in the same community could enjoy lives free from the fear of harassment and the restrictions that African-Americans in Birmingham faced daily. Like many of her peers, Lewis-Randall was tired of being told that she could not have equal rights. “I wanted to make a difference. I could not understand why my parents were deadbound on me going to college, achieving and being all I can be — and I’m a second class citizen, probably a third-class, you know? I was being called racial slurs and spit on if I went to town and it just bothered me,” she said. “It really caused me great pain. I still have those scars.” She was determined to work for change. “What encouraged me to march, in addition to me listening to Dr. King … There was a fiery young minister named James Bevel, and he was closer to our age … We could readily relate to him,” she said. Bevel is widely recognized as the primary voice behind the decision to send children into the fray, to do something many of their parents could not do without fear of losing their jobs. Prominent among the marches LewisRandall participated in was the one that took place on what civil rights organizers called D-Day – May 2, 1963, the first day of the Children’s Crusade. She was among a throng of students who had skipped school, waiting near their radios to hear a signal — a certain song to be played by the popular activist disc jockey, “Tall” Paul White. When she heard the song, Lewis-Randall was at home, watching her coal miner father washing his blue Cadillac. “He said, ‘Well, it’s getting close to that time. You listening to the radio?’ I said, ‘Yes I am, sir.’ He said, ‘Well, OK. I tell you what – go back in there and put on another pair of pants, so when the water hoses and things hit you again, you won’t be able to feel as much,’” she noted. “He was just looking out for me.” Her father, she said, “was very encouraging,” but he knew he could lose his job if he was arrested in a demonstration. “He could not afford not to be able to take care of me and my mom,” she said. Her mother, on the other hand, did not know her daughter’s plans, and did not approve, she said. Washington and other kids from various Birmingham neighborhoods started walking toward the gathering point, which was the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church. “We came from every direction. I mean you were meeting people on every corner,” she recalled. At the church, organizers warmed up the crowd for the daunting task of facing resistance from the Birmingham police and fire departments. It was “like a pep rally,” she said. “That’s when you were given your instructions.” That day, when she left the church,
Above: Medals of honor and recognition presented to Gloria Washington Lewis-Randall over the years recognizing her as one of the foot soldiers during the Civil Rights Movement in 1963 are seen at her home March 21. Lewis-Randall was 16-years-old when she participated in the Birmingham Children’s March in 1963 and has remained active in telling her story to keep the history of the Civil Rights Movement alive in society. Photo by Erin Nelson. Top: Lewis-Randall is always willing to spend time with visitors interested in learning about the Birmingham civil rights movement as demonstrated when this tour came through Kelly Ingram Park in 2016. . Photo by NIck Patterson.
Lewis-Randall said, she got a look at Bull Connor’s white tank, the armored vehicle he would sometimes bring to intimidate demonstrators. “That put fear in my heart,” she recalled. Bevel’s march strategy that day involved having the students approach Birmingham City Hall from a route he hoped would be unexpected. “So my route was straight up 16th Street all the way up to 11th Avenue where that Jewish cemetery is, then we’d turn right, go to 19th Street, and then we were passing by police blockades, heading to City Hall,” she said. “Once you got to City Hall, you fell on your knees. Police would pick you up and throw you in a paddy wagon or bus or whatever, and take you to jail.” Like many of the marchers, Lewis-Randall was carrying a sign. “My sign said, ‘We shall overcome,’” she remembers. She made it to City Hall, held up her sign for a
moment, fell to her knees, then felt herself lifted up by two police officers and put into a paddy wagon with a group of boys, many of whom she knew from school. The boys, she said, were taken to the city jail. Girls, including Lewis-Randall, were taken to juvenile detention – at first. “But they were full. So, then I had to go to the Fairgrounds,” she said. Children taken to the Alabama State Fairgrounds were often held in makeshift cells, similar to animal pens. “But I was only there a few days,” Lewis-Randall said. “I was there, maybe, about 5 days.” “You even had some mothers, some parents, come out to the fence to see if they could see their children,” she recalled. Lewis-Randall and others arrested during the demonstrations recounted how one or more police officers were involved in the sexual assault of a young girl who had been arrested for demonstrating.
Lewis-Randall described the girl — she knew her as Janice — as attractive, and traumatized. She begged the other girls to protect her and when an officer came toward her during the night, several of the incarcerated teenagers, including Lewis-Randall, managed to take the officer’s baton, and fight him off, she said. “He didn’t hurt her at all, because she was moved after that,” she said. After that incident, Lewis-Randall also was moved — to the Jefferson County Jail. While there, she said she was made to clean the floor with a toothbrush. When she complained of having rheumatic fever, she said the matron “told me to stay in the sweat box until my heart got better.” Lewis-Randall said she got lost in the system, waiting for the movement organizers and supporters to come up with bail money for the children. And her move from the fairgrounds to the county jail made it difficult for her mother to find her, she said. “My mom tried for weeks to get me out. But they kept telling her, ‘We don’t have children in the county jail.” Lewis-Randall credits her release, almost a month later, to her mother’s boss from the then-well known department store Tillman and Levinson. After Mrs. Washington was unable to secure her daughter’s freedom, her employer, who was white, went to the jail and requested that the child be turned over to him. Lewis-Randall recalls her time in the county jail as nothing short of “horrendous … It was terrible. It was belittling.” The experience left her “ leery of people. I used to have a very, very trusting spirit towards anyone,” she said. “But because of the humiliation and the pain and the hurt and the scars I wouldn’t allow people to get close to me at all. I didn’t trust anyone. It wasn’t just toward whites. I didn’t trust anybody.” Later in life, she said, she found a purpose in her social work career. And she has come to view the Birmingham Movement as blessed. “God took ordinary people, and just made them do extraordinary things,” she said.
MORE TO COME
What’s next? For Lewis-Randall what’s next is more of the same – telling her stories whenever and wherever she can. As she sees it the need for human rights — for freedom — is no less pressing today than it was nearly 60 years ago. Voter suppression is on the rise, for instance, she said. “You can see the same things occurring. Only difference is instead of them wearing hoods and sheets they carry briefcases and wear suits and ties, you know. But they still harbor that same bitterness and that same hatred. And I don’t want anybody’s epitaph to read that they were killed by hate,” she said. “The struggle continues,” Lewis-Randall said.
16
IRONCITY.INK
BUSINESS
SIPS & BITES
HAPPENINGS
SIGHTS
IRON CITY INK
ARTIST
FACES
MAY 2022
NECK OF THE WOODS
DISCOVER
Above: A participant in the Ada Long Creative Writing Workshop gathers inspiration for his writing on a field trip. Photo by Lexi Coon, UAB University Relations. Left: Participants in the Ada Long Creative Writing Workshop, a summer program hosted annually by UAB. Photo by Andrea Mabry, UAB University Relations.
UAB
Young writers get support at Ada Long Creative Writing Workshop
By JESSE CHAMBERS The UAB English Department will once again present a summer creative writing workshop for teens. The university has partnered with Amazon as part of the retail giant’s educational program. A new federal grant will help UAB fight food insecurity in the area. And Cooper Green — in existence for half a century — is seeking stories from former patients and staffers.
FINDING INSPIRATION
The Ada Long Creative Writing Workshop — held each summer by the UAB Department of English — is a chance for a select group of 30 high school students to work closely with nationally acclaimed novelists, essayists and poets. “This workshop is built around our students finding inspiration, guidance and support to express their ideas,” said Tina Braziel, director of the workshop, in a news release. This year’s workshop will take place June 13-July 1 at the Spencers Honors House on the UAB campus. Applications from rising high school freshmen, sophomores, juniors and seniors will be accepted through May 1 or until all the spaces are filled. Participants can earn up to one hour of college credit and will receive one-on-one attention to develop their writing skills, Braziel said. The Jimmie Hess Scholarship Fund offers scholarships to assure that all interested
students can attend. The program encourages students to find inspiration in Birmingham’s rich culture and history. Students are able to explore different genres such as poetry, fiction, memoir, and magazine production. They draft, critique, and revise original works weekly, culminating in a published piece in The Writer’s Block, the workshop’s yearly anthology. In the past, students represented over many Alabama schools including the Alabama School of Fine Arts, G.W. Carver High School, Huffman High School Magnet, Gadsden City School and Ramsay High School. The workshop is named for Dr. Ada Long, a professor of English and the founding director of the UAB Honors Program. Long was a lifelong advocate for community outreach, the value of a liberal education and the enduring significance of literature. Braziel is an award-winning poet. Her collection, “Known by Salt,” which won the 2017 Philip Levine Prize for Poetry, was published by Anhinga Press in 2019. She earned her MFA at The University of Oregon, has been published in numerous journals and published a poetry chapbook, “Rooted by Thirst,” in 2016 To apply and for more information about the workshop, call 205-934-8573 or go to go.uab.edu/ada.
UAB AND AMAZON
UAB was selected recently by Amazon to take part in the online retailer’s Career
Choice Partner Network. This means that eligible Amazon associates can receive full tuition assistance while pursuing a bachelor’s degree or certificate at UAB. Those associates can pursue one of the school’s 55 bachelor’s degrees and 86 minors — with on-campus and online options available. “The Career Choice program aligns with UAB’s strategic plan and mission pillars, including education and community engagement” said Bradley Barnes, the university’s provost of enrollment management. The Career Choice program offers a variety of opportunities, including full college tuition, industry certifications designed to lead to in-demand jobs and foundational skills such as English language proficiency, high school diplomas and GEDs. For more information, go to uab.edu/ amazon.
COOPER GREEN MEMORIES
As part of its 50th anniversary celebration, Cooper Green Mercy Health Services Authority is looking for stories from past and present patients and employees, according to UAB News. Cooper Green wants to hear from patients, physicians, nurses, other employees and past students and trainees, said Dr. Raegan W. Durant, the facility’s medical director. Anyone can submit a story or memory, and the best will be captured for a 50th anniversary video. To submit a story, call 205-930-3450 or email cgmhs_marketing@uabmc.edu.
Cooper Green was called Mercy Hospital when it was opened by Jefferson County in 1972. It was renamed in 1975.
FIGHTING HUNGER
UAB recently received a grant for $60,000 from AmeriCorps, the federal agency for national service and volunteerism, as part of the VISTA program’s food security initiative. The initiative was launched in 2020 in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, The grant — part of AmeriCorps’ $1 billion American Rescue Plan — allows UAB to expand its reach and provide food security resources and access in the Birmingham metropolitan area and surrounding areas. The money will enable the university to collaborate with community partners, farmers, food banks and other community resources to identify funding opportunities, develop marketing materials and conduct outreach activities to promote food resources. “At the onset of the pandemic, hunger soared to the highest rates in modern history when schools were shuttered and older Americans’ meal programs put on hiatus,” said AmeriCorps Chief Executive Officer Michael D. Smith. “The work of our food-security initiative and the University of Alabama at Birmingham will turn back this tide and bring much-needed support to older adults and families.” This initiative by VISTA increases UAB’s ability to serve food-insecure populations by recruiting and managing volunteers and to support programs like Blazer Kitchen, a on-campus food pantry.
MAY 2022
IRON CITY INK
17
IRONCITY.INK
NECK OF THE WOODS
CENTRAL CITY
ASO to celebrate centennial on Memorial Day weekend
By JESSE CHAMBERS The Alabama Symphony Orchestra is celebrating its 100th anniversary this season. And they want to share this historic moment with as many people in Birmingham as possible. The orchestra will present a special threeday celebration, A Century in Symphony, at Railroad Park downtown on Memorial Day weekend. Admission is free. It’s a great time to hear the ASO, which has about 50 musicians and hires additional players for large events, said ASO Music Director Carlos Izcaray. “The symphony is sounding spectacular this season,” Izcaray told Iron City Ink. The ASO is excited about the event, he said. “We are also honored that we can perform for our community on such a solemn date,” Izcaray said, referring to Memorial Day. A Century in Symphony begins Friday, May 27, at 8 p.m., with the Symphonic Spectacular. The ASO will play a Dvorak symphony, as well as works by American composers, including Birmingham native
The Alabama Symphony Orchestra, led by Music Director Carlos Izcaray, will present a series of free concerts at Railroad Park on Memorial Day weekend. Photo courtesy of ASO.
Brian Raphael Nabors. On Saturday, May 28 at 8 p.m., the ASO will perform music by Mendelssohn inspired by Shakespeare's “A Midsummer Night's Dream,” as well as works by Sibelius and Beethoven. The weekend concludes with a Family Fun
Day on Sunday, May 29, at 6 p.m. The symphony will play a variety of works, including patriotic music. ASO Concertmaster Daniel Szasz will make a solo appearance. People should feel comfortable attending symphony performances even if they don’t know a lot about classical music, Izcaray said.
“One of the most common desires amongst us musicians is that of sharing our music with those who haven’t had a chance to experience it yet,” he said. “I personally love to hear their stories after they’ve heard our symphony for the first time. A symphony concert is “one of the greatest mediums that brings people together to share an emotionally moving experience,” Izcaray said. “Our music tells the story of humanity through an emotional angle. That is why it can deeply impress both a kindergartener and senior citizen.” The ASO’s 100th anniversary is important to Birmingham, he said. A symphony’s “worth far outweighs its cost, hence a community that has 100 years of symphonic history is well positioned for the next decades ahead,” Izcaray said. The ASO will also present several other events in May. These include Masterworks concerts on May 6-7 and May 20-21 and a SuperPOPS! event May 14. For details, go to alabamasymphony.org/ events.
BIRMINGHAM BARONS BIRMINGHAM BARONS FOUNDATION PROBLEMS? WE HAVE THE SOLUTION.
FOUNDATION REPAIR
MAY 3-8 MAY 17-22
BASEMENT WALL REPAIR FLOOR LEVELING CRAWLSPACE ENCAPSULATION
REQUEST A FREE QUOTE TODAY 205-520-9777•foundationsunlimited.com
Family-Owned and Operated Since 1996
SCAN QR CODE TO VIEW PROMOTIONS & PURCHASE TICKETS!
18
IRON CITY INK
IRONCITY.INK
BUSINESS
SIPS & BITES
HAPPENINGS
SIGHTS
PUT THESE IN MAY’S BEST BETS COMMUNITY
ARTIST
FACES
MAY 2022
NECK OF THE WOODS
INK
Ongoing. Civil Rights History: The Church, Children & Community. Various locations downtown. Freedom Line Tours presents this two-hour walking tour of sites important during the civil rights era in Birmingham. Tuesday through Saturday, 10:30 a.m. & 2:30 p.m. $65.99 per person. 866-259-9691. freedomlinetours.com Ongoing. Crunk Fitness. Boutwell Municipal Auditorium, 1930 Eighth Ave. N. Jamme, the creator of Crunk Fitness, offers a fun, funky dance workout that focuses on the full body. Mondays and Thursday, 6-7 p.m. Admission free. 205-9607763. crunkfitness.com May 4: YW Allies. 6-8 p.m. Avondale Brewing Company, 201 41st St. S. Hosted by YWCA Central Alabama, YW Allies honors men in Central Alabama who advocate for gender and/or racial equality. 205-322-9922. ywcabham.org
MUSIC May 1: Godspeed You! Black Emperor. 8 p.m. Saturn, 200 41st S. Veteran rock band Godspeed takes part in the Saturn seventh anniversary show. $30. 205-703-9546. saturnbirmingham.com May 3: Lavona Rushton concert. 7:30-9 p.m. Birmingham Museum of Art, 2000 Rev. Abraham Woods, Jr. Blvd. A popular BMA event featuring an internationally acclaimed pianist, with past performers include including Daniel Hsu, Vadym Kholodenko and Van Cliburn Competition silver medalist Beatrice Rana. Stay tuned for 2022 concert details and registration. Details TBA. For updates, call 205-254-2565. artsbma.org May 4: Colin Hay. 8 p.m. Lyric Theatre, 1800 Third Ave. N. Singer-songwriter Colin Hay is well-regarded for his intimate, confessional live shows. Tickets start at $39. 800-745-3000. lyricbham.com/events May 6: Kaydee Mulvehill. 10 p.m. The Nick,
THE BRIAN JONESTOWN MASSACRE Saturn, 200 41st St. S., May 6, 8:30 p.m.
2514 10th Ave. S. Mulvehill is a singersongwriter from Birmingham. $7 advance, $10 day of show. 205-252-3831. thenickrocks.com/ May 6: The Brian Jonestown Massacre. 8:30 p.m. Saturn, 200 41st St. S. This legendary alternative rock band formed in San Francisco in the 1990s. $22 (advance). 205-703-9546. saturnbirmingham.com/ May 6-7: Alabama Symphony Orchestra. Alys Stephens Center, 1200 10th Ave. S. The ASO will perform Mozart's 40th Symphony and Brahms' First Piano Concerto Friday and Saturday at 7 p,.m. 205-975-2787. alysstephens.org May 12: Kulture Krisis. The Nick, 2514 10th Ave. S. Kulture Krisis from Atlanta will appear, along with Digigost and Dj Drewski. 205-2523831. thenickrocks.com/ May 15: Key Glock. 8 p.m. Iron City. 513 22nd St. S. Key Glock appears in a stop on the “Yellow Tape Tour.” All ages show. $25-$79. 205-7615105. ironcitybham.com May 19: Medical Music Day. 10 a.m. Various locations, UAB Hospital. During this annual events, many members of the UAB Hospital Community with musical talents perform 20-minute sets. 205-975-2787. alysstephens. org/events/medical-music-2022
DO YOU SPEAK MEXICAN?
Dorothy Jemison Day Theater, Alabama School of Fine Arts, 1800 Rev. Abraham Woods Jr. Blvd. 7:30 p.m.
May 19: Sevendust. 7 p.m. Iron City. 513 22nd St. S. Sevendust is a veteran rock band, formed in the 1990s in Atlanta. $29.50. 205-761-5105. ironcitybham.com May 20: Liam Purcell & Cane Mill Road. 9 p.m. Zydeco. 2001 15th Ave. S. This bluegrass band will appear with Mountain Grass Unit from Birmingham. $12. 205-933-1032. zydecobirmingham.com May 26: Choral Evensong. 5:30-6:30 p.m. Cathedral Church of the Advent, 2017 Sixth Ave. N. The Cathedral Choir sings the traditional Anglican service of sung Evening Prayer in celebration of the Feast of the Ascension. Admission free. 205-226-3505. adventbirmingham.org
ARTS Ongoing: Birmingham Bottling: Soft Drinks in the Magic City. Vulcan Park and Museum, 1701 Valley View Drive. An exhibit showing the rich history of soft drink bottling in Birmingham. The exhibit is located in the Linn-Henley Gallery inside Vulcan Center. Vulcan Center is open daily from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. The exhibit is included in the cost of museum admission. 205933-1409. visitvulcan.com/explore/exhibits
DISCOVER
Did we miss something? If you would like to have your neighborhood association meeting mentioned in next month’s calendar, email the meeting info to jchambers@starnesmedia.com.
May 1: An Officer And A Gentleman. BJCC Concert Hall, 2100 Richard Arrington Jr. Blvd. N. The American Theatre Guild presents the first national tour of the musical based on the 1980s hit film. Tickets start at $35. 800-9822787. broadwayinbirmingham.com May 25: Do You Speak Mexican? 7:30 p.m. Dorothy Jemison Day Theater, Alabama School of Fine Arts, 1800 Reverend Abraham Woods Jr. Blvd. Co-creators Elena Maria Garcia and Christian Perez make their Alabama debut with a funny, inspirational exploration of a firstgeneration Cuban-American family finding their place in the United States. $25. 205-563-6390. djdtheater.org
SPORTS BIRMINGHAM BARONS (HOME GAMES AT REGIONS FIELD) May 3-8: Tennessee May 17-22: Rocket City Trash Pandas (For times and tickets, call (205) 988-3200 or go to https://www.milb.com/birmingham)
BIRMINGHAM LEGION FC (ALL HOME GAMES AT PROTECTIVE STADIUM) (205-600-4696, bhmlegion.com) May 4: Miami FC, 7 p.m. May 18: Las Vegas Lights FC, 7 p.m.
BARBER MOTORSPORTS PARK AND MUSEUM (205-699-7275. barberracingevents.com) May 7-8: Sportbike Track Time May 14-15: BMW Club Heart of Dixie Chapter May 27-June 1: California Superbike School
Need a little more
Spring
in your step? Our Physical Therapists can help! If you’d like to get out and enjoy this season with less pain and better movement, give us a call. We can assess your current situation and develop a treatment plan just for you—to help you meet your goals and return to your favorite activities! At TherapySouth, we build relationships with our patients that last a lifetime. Scan this code to schedule an appointment with Your PT today!
www.therapysouth.com Lakeview/ Southside 720 32nd Street South 205.731.2177
Woodlawn 5831 1st Ave N Suite 100 Birmingham 205.502.2270
free admission
YOUR
PT? EXHIBITION
March 19 · 2022 – Jan 15 · 2023
WHO IS
Co-sponsored by
Manjari Sharma, Lord Brahma, 2013; Museum purchase, 2020.48.5a, Courtesy of the artist
Birmingham Museum of Art Half Page ad - 9.25" x 5.5" | Iron City Ink
artsbma.org
With support from the E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation, the Dora and Sanjay Singh Endowment for Global Arts, Culture, and Education, a fund at the Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham, and the Susan Mott Webb Charitable Trust
TEMPUR-PEDIC • BEAUTYREST • SEALY • NECTAR • STEARNS & FOSTER WE NOW CARRY PURPLE.
Easyas 1-2-3 1 YEAR
1 YEAR LOWEST PRICE LOWEST PRICE GUARANTEE GUARANTEE
2 YEAR 2 YEAR EXTENDED
EXTENDED WARRANTY WARRANTY
3 YEAR 3COMFORT YEAR
COMFORT GUARANTEE GUARANTEE
Serving the Birmingham & Surrounding Area Since 1994 bedzzzexpress.com
