Birmingham marks anniversary of church bombing

Saturday, September 15, 2012

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Birmingham is marking the 49th anniversary of a church bombing that killed four black children in one of the worst acts of violence during the civil rights movement.

About 80 people gathered at Kelly Ingram Park Friday to lay wreaths honoring the four black children who died when a bomb exploded at the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church. Two other black youths were killed in violence later that day.

Three members of the Ku Klux Klan were later convicted for their roles in the racially motivated attack.

Myrna Jackson, first vice president of the Metro Birmingham NAACP, said sometimes tragedies have to happen to unite people. The Birmingham News reports that Jackson told the crowd that it should not fool itself into thinking all is now well.