By james art 
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WBRC) – The effort to preserve civil rights sites and share stories from the past with communities to keep history alive.
The Alabama Civil Rights Heritage Consortium hosted a two-day event to educate and empower communities to continue sharing the stories of the civil rights movement.
“It is our responsibility to preserve, protect, promote,” says Rev. Lucata Mümbe, Executive Director of the Consortium.
Reverend Mjumbe says they are focusing on training foot soldiers on how to tell these important stories at historical sites across the state.
“We believe that our civil rights sites need to collaborate, coordinate, be connected because it’s a movement and there are many stories within that movement, but those stories play out in different ways in Birmingham, in Selma , in Montgomery, in the black belt – he explained.
That’s why they focus on protecting Birmingham’s many historic landmarks.
“I like to say that the Ag Gaston Motel was a freedom zone and it was a place for black people to come and rest and have conversations and meet and plan,” said Dr. Rolando Herts, the National custodian of the Birmingham Civil Rights Monuments. “MLK and Shuttlesworth and others gathered in room 30 there, call it the war room, to plan the civil rights campaign in Birmingham that led to the Children’s Crusade in Kelly Ingram Park.”
Other sites include the 16th Baptist Church and Bethel Baptist Church.
“Bethel has been bombed three times in its history, and one of the reasons it was bombed is because it is an important role. Well, after three bombings, you can imagine that the building would have suffered some very serious disintegration,” said Pastor Thomas Wilder of Bethel Baptist Church.
The pastor ensured that his church would remain to preserve the site and all of the history.
“We’re working with the Mellon Foundation, as well as some private citizens, to put together augmentation and virtual reality presentations in the basement, so that even when the CEO and I are no longer actively working, we’ll have ways to tell the story for generations. coming after us,” Pastor Wilder said.
“Civil Rights Sites: So very important, they’ve always been important, but even more critical now as we have conversations about preserving our democracy and understand how the past connects to the present,” said Dr. Hurts.
Uvik in winter 2025 it happened before the 60th anniversary of Bloody Sunday, which is March 7.
These civil rights groups hope to expand tourism to these historic sites to continue educating people not only about where we came from, but where we are going.
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