On The Road: Destination-Birmingham Alabama revisited story by August H Mallory

It is now a new year and as I make a return visit to Birmingham Alabama I still remember my first visit there. I still recall when an elderly woman in her 70s approached me to tell me about the freedom riders who came through Birmingham enroute to Washington DC, as she recalled the ku klux klansmen who attacked the bus the riders were on and dragged them from their bus and beat them severely whie the Birmingham Police sat back and watched. I scheduled a tour to the Birmingham jail where Dr Martin Luther King was jailed for protesting a law that was unconstitutional. there were letters written by Dr King. that were discovered years after he was released from jail in Birmingham. Dr King fought for jobs, equal rights, poverty, womens rights, his sole purpose was to force the nation to share its bill of rights with all citizens. as I look around Birmingham today, much has changed but much still need to improve. I took another look at the sixteenth street baptist church again, in 1963 four little girls were preparing to attend church when ku klux klansmen fire bombed the church. a very grim reminder still remains on the side of that church, repairs have been made but the fenced off area will catch the view of all who visits it. I was standing in a park just directly across from the sixteenth street baptist church when a homeless man came up to me and gave me some details as to what happen on that dreadful day in 1963. as he explained it to me, he had mentioned that the entire area shook like an earthquake for four blocks. it was the worst bombing to ever happen to that city. he gave grave details as to how the Birmingham Police made wise cracks about the bombing. I was seven years old in 1963. but I do remember while growing up in Indiana I was watching the news one evening and I remember seeing this footage of a church being blown out somewhere down south. I remember seeing the horrified look on my parent's faces as they were watching. after I finished my conversation with this gentleman, we parted ways, I decided to take a closer look at the church. I stood about two feet away from the once bombed out area. and thought to myself how could anyone do this to a church. my parents raised me to respect the house of god.
and even though I don't always attend as much as I would like to I still remember what I was taught. these days things have gotten even worse, but though no one has bombed a church, there are things like using profane language in a church, drinking of alcohol in the church. flirting and sexual harassment in the church, all of these things are now common place in houses of worship. and even though we as individuals may laugh at this, I can assure you that god is not laughing. as I stood outside of the sixteenth street baptist church in Birmingham, I said a quiet prayer for those four girls who died in that bombing. and made my way to downtown birmingham, to talk with some of the local merchants and business owners in the area. my purpose in Birmingham was to get new ideas from merchants on what can be done about getting the homeless out of their situation. I got all sorts of comments some good some not so good. I was pushing more to see if merchants would be willing to hire the homeless as employees. so merchants were pretty compassionate to the idea, but it was just that their budget were maxed out to pay another person to work. or they just didn't have the work available. alot of businesses were laying off people at alarming rates so they as merchants knew that hiring someone would not work for them as an employer. however as we live in the united states. the many employers who are hiring are looking for more younger, less experienced people. and in many cities across the country the homeless are shut out of the mainstream.
homeless services can provide so much, but it the merchants who could do the job of hiring more people who are down and out and if we can reach that stage where we can accept people as they are our economy will roll alot better, our unemployment rate will not be so high. even small businesses can succeed. many of the homeless have tremendous marketing skills, I have seen this for myself. and if there is an employer out there who wants to find some good people to work for them. consider those who are homeless, not all homeless people are drug addicts, drunks and child molesters, rapist's and murderer's there are alot of good people who are willing to work and make a difference. and to the city of Birmingham, I encourage you to take this thought into consideration when you hire.