The City of Birmingham launched a yearlong poster series to commemorate the 1963 Birmingham campaign for civil and human rights
For the entire year of 2023, the City of Birmingham – in partnership with area churches, arts organizations, activists, businesses, and nonprofits – honored the challenges, lessons, and triumphs of the 1963 Birmingham civil and human rights movement. The 60th commemoration included programs, events, workshops, and entertainment that were open to the entire community.
Click the image above to read about how the poster series came together.
The theme for the year was “Forging Justice.” Birmingham is known for its steel production and also its racial past. Today, however, just like steel melds together different elements to make a singular strong force, the city has worked to forge relationships among all races, religions, ethnicities, and creeds.
The City’s role in the commemoration was to highlight and support the number of programs taking place during the year. Events included the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing commemoration, the Children’s March reenactment, a national convention of Black journalists, concerts, exhibits, a healing conference, and tributes to Dr. King and the Rev. Fred L. Shuttlesworth. Birmingham also hosted peacemakers from around the world with the International Peace Conference & Peace Week on May 1-5, 2023.
The City launched a special commemorative poster series, created by Office of Public Information Graphic Designers Marcus Watts and Bre Rudolph. The purpose was to support storytelling themes for each month throughout the commemoration and to give the public a piece of art as a keepsake as we all reflect and remember the lessons of 1963.
Here are the themes for each month and poster:
- January – Unity
- February – Black Resistance
- March – Women
- April – Clergy
- May – Children and Youth
- June – Restorative Justice
- July – Environmental Justice
- August – Storytelling
- September – Civil and Human Rights
- October – Social Justice
- November – Arts and Culture
- December – Economic Opportunity
MONTHLY POSTERS-COLLECT THEM ALL!
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Please visit Birmingham 365
- for information on events throughout the year.
Jefferson County Memorial Quilt Workshop
02-22-2025
02-22-2025
Presented by Create Birmingham at Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, Birmingham
Create Birmingham, in partnership with the Jefferson County Memorial Project, Bib & Tucker Sew-Op, The Black Cherry Tree Project, and the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute will manage The Jefferson County Memorial Quilt Project. A community-based...
[more+]Create Birmingham, in partnership with the Jefferson County Memorial Project, Bib & Tucker Sew-Op, The Black Cherry Tree Project, and the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute will manage The Jefferson County Memorial Quilt Project. A community-based initiative, this project seeks to reckon with central Alabama’s haunting history of racial violence and propel racial reconciliation through the co-construction of a Jefferson County Memorial Quilt, which will be created in honor of the 33 African-Americans who were lynched in Jefferson County from the mid-19th through the mid-20th century.
The Workshops
Aiming to foster productive dialogue around race, justice, and community unity, this project will host six free, public sewing workshops in communities across Jefferson County, during which participants will create individual squares of what will become the Jefferson County Memorial Quilt. Participants will be provided with sewing kits and instruction from Bib & Tucker Sew-Op, while educational programming surrounding the nature and importance of this history and the project will be led by The Black Cherry Tree Project during a portion of each workshop. Each individual square as well as educational programming for the workshops will be designed using research provided by the Jefferson County Memorial Project from their Victim Archives. In addition to developing educational material, JCMP will produce a visual manual for participants that will include partner information, quilting instructions, historical references, and drop-off locations for finished squares.
What to Expect
Each sewing workshop is two hours long, and participants should prepare to stay the entire time. The sessions will be facilitated collaboratively by Jefferson County Memorial Project, The Black Cherry Tree Project, and Bib & Tucker Sew-Op. At the beginning of each workshop, participants will receive a brief introduction to the project and an overview of the history and ramifications of lynching in Jefferson County by JCMP and TBCTP. Following the introduction, participants will sew their quilt blocks, which will be led by Bib & Tucker Sew-Op. Sewists will have the option to stitch a stenciled block or to create their own design using scrap fabric, embroidery floss. fabric markers, and sewing notions. All materials will be provided, but participants are welcome to bring their own. At the end of each workshop, participants can turn in their completed block, or take it home to finish.
This workshop will be facilitated by Sonya Muhammad and Carey Fountain.
[less-]Tags: Forging Justice
Jefferson County Memorial Quilt Workshop
02-22-2025
02-22-2025
Presented by Create Birmingham at Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, Birmingham
Create Birmingham, in partnership with the Jefferson County Memorial Project, Bib & Tucker Sew-Op, The Black Cherry Tree Project, and the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute will manage The Jefferson County Memorial Quilt Project. A community-based...
[more+]Create Birmingham, in partnership with the Jefferson County Memorial Project, Bib & Tucker Sew-Op, The Black Cherry Tree Project, and the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute will manage The Jefferson County Memorial Quilt Project. A community-based initiative, this project seeks to reckon with central Alabama’s haunting history of racial violence and propel racial reconciliation through the co-construction of a Jefferson County Memorial Quilt, which will be created in honor of the 33 African-Americans who were lynched in Jefferson County from the mid-19th through the mid-20th century.
The Workshops
Aiming to foster productive dialogue around race, justice, and community unity, this project will host six free, public sewing workshops in communities across Jefferson County, during which participants will create individual squares of what will become the Jefferson County Memorial Quilt. Participants will be provided with sewing kits and instruction from Bib & Tucker Sew-Op, while educational programming surrounding the nature and importance of this history and the project will be led by The Black Cherry Tree Project during a portion of each workshop. Each individual square as well as educational programming for the workshops will be designed using research provided by the Jefferson County Memorial Project from their Victim Archives. In addition to developing educational material, JCMP will produce a visual manual for participants that will include partner information, quilting instructions, historical references, and drop-off locations for finished squares.
What to Expect
Each sewing workshop is two hours long, and participants should prepare to stay the entire time. The sessions will be facilitated collaboratively by Jefferson County Memorial Project, The Black Cherry Tree Project, and Bib & Tucker Sew-Op. At the beginning of each workshop, participants will receive a brief introduction to the project and an overview of the history and ramifications of lynching in Jefferson County by JCMP and TBCTP. Following the introduction, participants will sew their quilt blocks, which will be led by Bib & Tucker Sew-Op. Sewists will have the option to stitch a stenciled block or to create their own design using scrap fabric, embroidery floss. fabric markers, and sewing notions. All materials will be provided, but participants are welcome to bring their own. At the end of each workshop, participants can turn in their completed block, or take it home to finish.
This workshop will be facilitated by Sonya Muhammad and Carey Fountain.
[less-]Tags: Forging Justice
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