‘Four little girls’ killed in 1963 church bombing honored with Congressional Gold Medal
Source: washington post
Four little girls received in death Friday one of the countrys highest civilian awards, as the nations first African American president honored some of the youngest victims in the historic fight for equal rights.
In the Oval Office, President Obama signed a bill designating the Congressional Gold Medal to the four girls killed on Sept. 15, 1963, when the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham was bombed by a group of Ku Klux Klan members.
The girls names were Addie Mae Collins, 14; Denise McNair, 11; Carole Robertson, 14; and Cynthia Wesley, 14. They died inside their Sunday school classrooms when dynamite, set to explode by a timer, blew up the African American church.
The attack that killed the girls and injured 22 other churchgoers marked a turning point in the American struggle for civil rights. Propelled in part by public outrage over the bombing, Congress passed the Civil Rights Act the next year.
Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/four-little-girls-honored-with-congressional-gold-medal/2013/05/24/91e8d896-c481-11e2-914f-a7aba60512a7_story.html
Tx4obama
(36,974 posts)Photo CAPTION:
WASHINGTON, DC - MAY 24: US President Barack Obama (2nd L) speaks as he signs a bill in the Oval Office designating the Congressional Gold Medal to commemorate the four young girls killed during the 1963 bombing of 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, as (L-R) Rep Terri Sewell (D-AL), Thelma Pippen McNair, mother of Denise McNair, Lisa McNair, sister of Denise McNair, Dianne Braddock, sister of Carole Robertson, Rev Arthur Price, Jr, pastor 16th Street Baptist Church, and former U.
Article from Reuters, here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/24/birmingham-church-bombing-victims-congressional-gold-medal_n_3333481.html
Rhiannon12866
(203,041 posts)They looked so young...
Swagman
(1,934 posts)who would destroy children, or bomb worshipers in a church.
adieu
(1,009 posts)When I first heard this most enigmatic song, I was wondering what this weird song with specific names and odd use of numbers. So I wiki'ed Birmingham Sunday and understood.
(The hyperlink on this comment is not very usable.)
onehandle
(51,122 posts)Strictly for financial reasons, of course.
Gore1FL
(21,035 posts)Didn't the Republicans realize the girls were were African Americans?
Sunlei
(22,651 posts)She took her statement about hearing the bomb out of her wikki, remember reading she was 9 years old? he father would sit up nights with his gun to defend the family in case people came to burn homes.
Here's the wiki, she still mentions the tinsdale area but has made her early life seem like a political problem from democrats. I can't believe Mrs. Rice re-writes her own history into something more suited to todays republican crap. What a disapointment Mrs. Rice is towards a part of American history that should NEVER be forgotten or made political! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Condoleezza_Rice
mountain grammy
(26,573 posts)But now that's the Republicans.. how anyone of color or any minority can be a Republican these days just blows my mind. They hide their racism behind "individualism" and Condi's smart enough to know that.. but considering the blundering administration she blundered along with, maybe not.
Sunlei
(22,651 posts)She said, she became a R in those days because the Ds of those old days would not let her father vote and the Rs would. Once reconstruction was stopped, Lincon was killed in those states..it was a nightmare for many decades for black people. The new president and our supreme court allowed segregation and horrible oppression by race. Even today a lot of the counties are still segregated.
political parties, religions, races to many different names, labels for all kinds of humans.
Pterodactyl
(1,687 posts)Sunlei
(22,651 posts)Pterodactyl
(1,687 posts)Although they both have their origins in the post-Civil War era, one originated in the North and was more a skills-based club and advocacy group. The other originated in the South and was a hate group.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Rifle_Association
So, if you are going to conflate the two, please cite a source, so I can read up in this interesting historical link of which I was not previously aware.
Sunlei
(22,651 posts)you'll have to go over yourself the thousands of pics, millions of docs, the written records of the day. One thing our gov does and still does even today is save every record- state and federal forever.
You know as well as I do lobbiests groups like the NRA write their own glory history for Wiki
Many of the records are in this documentary, quite a few refrences to NRA and KKK
The NRA and KKK rose up together hand in hand, that with their leaflets/written materials- of those days- are shown in this documentary. The reasons why are discussed by historial experts aswell.
http://www.pbs.org/tpt/slavery-by-another-name/watch/
shawn703
(2,702 posts)What is the nation's second highest civilian award? They always make a point of stating that this honor is the nation's highest when this one is awarded. And would there be disappointment if someone was awarded that one instead of this one?
Sgent
(5,857 posts)from Congress there's the silver medal. Then there's also the Presidential Medal of Freedom, citizen's medal, etc. Most of the awards are given by various executive departments, but there are some more general ones that rank below CGM.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Awards_and_decorations_of_the_United_States_government