Issue #927 Today In Black History, Monday, September 15, 2025
We Are Speaking is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber:
https://wearespeaking.substack.com/subscribe
With the growing fascist and authoritarian government of the Trump Administration and the majority of Justices on the Supreme Court, we are fighting to save and expand the rights we’ve been fighting for the entirety of the 249 years of American history.
Even though the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments to the United States Constitution were ratified between 1865 and 1870, here we are more than one hundred years later still fighting the same fights.
In the 1960s, Black people were still being denied their basic civil rights, as segregationists used all kinds of laws, policies, and outright violence to maintain white supremacy and suppress the voting rights of Black Americans.
The civil rights movement, which was reenergized in the 1950s with the murder of 14-year-old Emmitt Till and the successful bus boycott in Montgomery, Alabama, was still in full force in the early 1960s.
In Alabama and other Southern states, whites were doing everything they could to suppress the voting rights of African Americans, which were supposedly granted with the ratification of the 15th Amendment in 1870, more than 90 years earlier.
On Sunday, September 15, 1963, four young African American girls lost their lives in a bombing that shocked the nation and again galvanized the civil rights movement.
The 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham was a spiritual and social hub for the African American community, serving as a site for meetings, discussions, and planning of civil rights activities. On this particular Sunday morning, the church was filled with families attending the Children's Day program. Unbeknownst to those gathered, a bomb had been planted by members of the Ku Klux Klan under the steps of the church.
At 10:22 a.m., the bomb detonated. The blast reduced much of the church's interior to rubble and claimed the lives of four innocent girls: Addie Mae Collins (14), Carol Denise McNair (11), Carole Robertson (14), and Cynthia Wesley (14). This act of racial terror wounded 22 others and struck a devastating blow to the community.
I remember this incident well, as I was just about one month shy of my 13th birthday.
The impact of this tragic event, just sixty-two years ago, was immediate and far-reaching. News of the bombing and the deaths of these four "little girls," as they came to be known, spread across the nation, drawing attention to the violent resistance faced by those advocating for racial equality. The outrage was not confined to Birmingham or even the Southern United States; it resonated globally, highlighting the stark realities of racial hatred in America.
The bombing exposed the brutality faced by African Americans and brought about a crucial shift in public consciousness. Civil rights leaders, including Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., condemned the attack as an act of "unspeakable inhumanity," urging the nation to confront its systemic racism and calling for legislative change.
The tragic loss of these young lives contributed to the momentum for major civil rights legislation, including the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, as a majority of the nation realized the need to dismantle institutionalized racism.
Yet, justice for the victims was delayed. It took years for the perpetrators to be brought to trial and convicted. Despite the immediate outrage and the clear evidence of racial terrorism, justice for this atrocity was painfully slow.
The FBI identified four KKK members as suspects: Robert Chambliss, Thomas Blanton, Bobby Frank Cherry, and Herman Cash. However, due to the political climate of the time, including significant resistance from local and state officials and widespread systemic racism, no immediate prosecutions occurred.
For years, the case languished. J. Edgar Hoover, then Director of the FBI, reportedly blocked the prosecution of the identified suspects, claiming insufficient evidence. This inaction highlighted the deep-seated racial biases within the justice system.
* It wasn't until 1977, 14 years after the bombing, that Robert Chambliss was brought to trial for his role in the attack. Alabama Attorney General Bill Baxley reopened the case and pursued charges against Chambliss, who was found guilty of first-degree murder for the death of Carol Denise McNair, the youngest of the four girls, and sentenced to life in prison. Chambliss maintained his innocence until his death in 1985.
* Decades later, the quest for justice continued. In 2000, a state grand jury indicted Thomas Blanton on first-degree murder charges. Blanton's trial, held in 2001, relied heavily on new evidence, including recorded conversations between Blanton and an informant. He was convicted and sentenced to life in prison. Blanton died in prison in 2020.
* Bobby Frank Cherry was indicted alongside Blanton but was deemed mentally unfit to stand trial initially. However, in 2002, a jury convicted Cherry of the bombing after a trial that included testimonies from family members and former Klan associates. Like his co-defendants, Cherry received a life sentence and died in prison in 2004.
* Herman Cash was never charged in relation to the bombing. He died in 1994, and no legal proceedings were brought against him during his lifetime.
The bombing remains a poignant reminder of the violent resistance to racial integration and equality in the United States. The courage of those who continued to seek justice for the "four little girls" serves as an enduring testament to the resilience and determination of the civil rights movement.
The last of the bombers was finally convicted in 2001, a testament to the slow, often painful journey towards justice.
Today, the memory of the four little girls serves as a poignant reminder of the sacrifices made in the pursuit of freedom and equality. Each year, as we commemorate their lives, we are reminded of the enduring impact of their loss and the imperative to remain vigilant against hatred and inequality.
The legacy of Addie Mae Collins, Carol Denise McNair, Carole Robertson, and Cynthia Wesley is a call to action—a reminder of the power of resilience and the enduring quest for justice that defines the ongoing struggle for civil rights.
Today In Black History
* In 1791, Rev. Jonathan Edwards, Jr., a Congregational minister, preached a strong anti-slavery sermon before the Connecticut Society for the Promotion of Freedom and for the Relief of Persons Unlawfully Holden in Bondage.
* In 1898, the National Afro-American Council was founded in Rochester, New York, promoting a program of assertion and protest.
* In 1923, the governor of Oklahoma declared martial law because the state was in rebellion and insurrection due to KKK activities.
* In 1943, actor and activist Paul Robeson, the son of an escaped slave, portrayed Othello for the 296th time at the Schubert Theater in New York City.
* In 1952, the United Nations turned over Eritrea to Ethiopia.
* In 1964, Dr. Stanley Smith and Rev. K.L. Buford were elected to the Tuskegee City Council, making them the first Black elected officials in the 20th century in Alabama.
* In 1978, Muhammad Ali became the first Black prizefighter to gross more than five million dollars in a bout at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans. Ali won a 13-round unanimous decision against Leon Spinks and also became the first fighter to win the heavyweight title three times.
* In 1991, Black inventor Jan E. Matzeliger was commemorated on a U.S.postage stamp.
Help us to reach our September, 2025 goals: +200 total new subscribers and +60 new paid subscribers:
Please share and subscribe to help us grow this publication.
If you like us, REALLY like us, please click the little heart “Like” button at the top of this post!
Buttons:
We Are Speaking is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber:
https://wearespeaking.substack.com/subscribe
