In 1963 Birmingham, Alabama, Denise McNair was 11 years old. Mirian Monago was only 8 and looked up to Denise. Denise treated Mirian as a friend, not just a little kid. Mirian’s smile widened as she remembered, “I was thrilled at having an older friend. I really looked up to her.”
On the morning of September 15, 1963, the friendship was cut short.
Four men, members of the Ku Klux Klan, planted a box of dynamite with time delay under the steps of the 16th Street Baptist Church near the basement. The church was filled with people, including 26 children. The explosion happened at 10:22 a.m. killing 4 girls. One was Denise McNair.
Yesterday we sat at breakfast in Birmingham, Alabama. (My friend Jean and her daughter Sara had flown into meet us.) At breakfast we got to talking to a woman in her 50’s who worked at our hotel. We learned she is a former teacher and enjoys her hobby as a jazz singer. We felt an instant connection with this beautiful, gentle voiced, intelligent woman. We discussed books, and places to visit. We mentioned we would be visiting the Civil Rights Institute and the 16th Street Baptist Church. That is when she told us her memory of being an 8 year old girl, happy to have an older, wiser friend to look up to - 11 year old Denise McNair.
Mirian welled up as she told us often when she has a jazz concert, she will silently think, “This is dedicated to you Denise” She wonders what Denise would have become had her life not been taken away at 11 years old.
This hit close to home as my 11 and 9 year old daughters listened intently. Sally, at 9 looks up to the older girls in her theater group. There are a few who treat her like a friend - not just a little kid.
Mirian and my girls shared something deep. We all share it. The desire to have a true friend and the joy of having one. May my girls never, ever have to experience, the unspeakable pain of one being murdered.
No textbook, no lecture could have been a more effective tool in teaching my kids something about the Civil Rights Movement. No test could ever measure what they learned but I knew, when I saw them hug Mirian goodbye. I saw it when we stood in the 16th Avenue Baptist Church.
This is the heart of the Great American Field Trip.
Planning this cross country journey, I knew one of the most important parts would be visiting the Deep South and learning about the Civil Rights Movement.
We had a blast in Savannah and in Athens, GA at the University of Georgia (read about that in my Mom’s Voice column Friday) but, as much as the south is known for its beauty, comfort food, and southern hospitality, it is also where some of our nation’s ugliest and shameful events took place. Where terrifying acts of hatred and injustice against black people was the norm for a sickening amount of time. With hate group memberships soaring in this country, there is still work to be done.
The wounds of the Civil Rights Movement run deeper than I ever thought possible. The dichotomy of strength and grace, the courageous acts of ordinary people amongst the backdrop of segregation is a difficult to comprehend.
I was happy to have to company of another adult during this part of our journey. The comfort of a Jean, a close friend, to share the tears and heaviness of what we saw and learned. Someone to help me try to explain to my kids what I am unable to explain to myself.
With Jean and Sara, we visited Atlanta, Montgomery and Birmingham. I have so much to share about what we saw and will write more tomorrow. I do fear my words will dilute what is in my heart.
I will end with excerpts from Sally and Janey’s journal. (I asked permission) Sally drew two thumbs on the page of her journal one was colored in with her ball point pen, one was not. Next to the thumbs she wrote “You tell me the difference that is a white thumb and a black thumb. That is how they judged respect. There is no difference!”
Janey wrote, “Today was a really intense day. First the day started out with us coming across a woman who worked at our hotel at breakfast. She knew one of the girls who died when the KKK bombed the church. How heart-breaking. I have to write about it tomorrow because I’m still trying to get over it.”
Please click here to listen to Mirian Monago singing "Bye Bye Blackbird" You can also listen to other songs she has recorded on Singsnap.
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| 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, AL |
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| Janey standing next to the spot of the explosion and the memorial stone with the names of the girls that were killed. |
Jill, you are correct. This IS the heart of
ReplyDeleteThe Great American Field Trip
I can't wait to see you and discuss the trip with the kids