Full article written by Donovan X. Ramsey and published in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution at ajc.com.
“People come to Birmingham carrying a heavy script. They arrive expecting the gravity of the place to crush them. They expect the brick, the blood, the sermons and the steel. They treat the city like a crime scene or a classroom, a place you visit to pay respects to the struggle, to touch the scars of 1963.
“They are not wrong. That spirit is there. But often, the visitors miss the point of venerating it. They forget what the struggle was actually for.
“The fight wasn’t just for a seat on a bus or a lever in a voting booth. It was for the right to the city’s beauty. It was for the right to be at ease, to access the romance and the pleasure that had been hoarded for so long.
“To truly understand Birmingham, one cannot just study the battle; one has to taste the victory. Here is our weekend guide…”
Read Ramsey’s full AJC guide to Birmingham here, including tips on where to stay, eat, and drink, but also where to find connection, celebration, and the warmth of home.
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“Come to Birmingham expecting to learn what people were fighting against. But stay long enough to let the city embrace you, and you will leave understanding what people were fighting for.
“It wasn’t just for policy. It was for access to all of the beauty and romance of this city. It was for the right to walk into a room, order a drink, look at a painting, hold a hand, and finally, fully, exhale.”
Photo credit to Bob Miller, AJC