Civil Rights Pardons

 ========= Old Image Removed =========Array
(
    [_wp_attached_file] => Array
        (
            [0] => 2009/08/civil-rights.jpg
        )

    [_wp_attachment_metadata] => Array
        (
            [0] => a:5:{s:5:"width";i:587;s:6:"height";i:395;s:4:"file";s:24:"2009/08/civil-rights.jpg";s:5:"sizes";a:6:{s:6:"medium";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:24:"civil-rights-336x226.jpg";s:5:"width";i:336;s:6:"height";i:226;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:9:"thumbnail";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:24:"civil-rights-140x140.jpg";s:5:"width";i:140;s:6:"height";i:140;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:9:"wbhm-icon";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:22:"civil-rights-80x80.jpg";s:5:"width";i:80;s:6:"height";i:80;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:18:"wbhm-featured-home";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:24:"civil-rights-462x311.jpg";s:5:"width";i:462;s:6:"height";i:311;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:22:"wbhm-featured-carousel";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:24:"civil-rights-394x265.jpg";s:5:"width";i:394;s:6:"height";i:265;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}s:14:"post-thumbnail";a:4:{s:4:"file";s:24:"civil-rights-125x125.jpg";s:5:"width";i:125;s:6:"height";i:125;s:9:"mime-type";s:10:"image/jpeg";}}s:10:"image_meta";a:12:{s:8:"aperture";s:1:"0";s:6:"credit";s:0:"";s:6:"camera";s:0:"";s:7:"caption";s:0:"";s:17:"created_timestamp";s:1:"0";s:9:"copyright";s:0:"";s:12:"focal_length";s:1:"0";s:3:"iso";s:1:"0";s:13:"shutter_speed";s:1:"0";s:5:"title";s:0:"";s:11:"orientation";s:1:"0";s:8:"keywords";a:0:{}}}
        )

    [_imagify_optimization_level] => Array
        (
            [0] => 1
        )

    [_imagify_data] => Array
        (
            [0] => a:2:{s:5:"stats";a:3:{s:13:"original_size";i:433552;s:14:"optimized_size";i:395293;s:7:"percent";d:8.8200000000000003;}s:5:"sizes";a:9:{s:4:"full";a:5:{s:7:"success";b:1;s:8:"file_url";s:52:"https://news.wbhm.org/media/2009/08/civil-rights.jpg";s:13:"original_size";i:136419;s:14:"optimized_size";i:105935;s:7:"percent";d:22.350000000000001;}s:9:"thumbnail";a:5:{s:7:"success";b:1;s:8:"file_url";s:60:"https://news.wbhm.org/media/2009/08/civil-rights-140x140.jpg";s:13:"original_size";i:10780;s:14:"optimized_size";i:10542;s:7:"percent";d:2.21;}s:6:"medium";a:5:{s:7:"success";b:1;s:8:"file_url";s:60:"https://news.wbhm.org/media/2009/08/civil-rights-336x226.jpg";s:13:"original_size";i:35335;s:14:"optimized_size";i:34609;s:7:"percent";d:2.0499999999999998;}s:9:"wbhm-icon";a:5:{s:7:"success";b:1;s:8:"file_url";s:58:"https://news.wbhm.org/media/2009/08/civil-rights-80x80.jpg";s:13:"original_size";i:4018;s:14:"optimized_size";i:3852;s:7:"percent";d:4.1299999999999999;}s:13:"wbhm-featured";a:5:{s:7:"success";b:1;s:8:"file_url";s:60:"https://news.wbhm.org/media/2009/08/civil-rights-587x338.jpg";s:13:"original_size";i:91488;s:14:"optimized_size";i:88608;s:7:"percent";d:3.1499999999999999;}s:20:"wbhm-featured-square";a:5:{s:7:"success";b:1;s:8:"file_url";s:60:"https://news.wbhm.org/media/2009/08/civil-rights-300x300.jpg";s:13:"original_size";i:40026;s:14:"optimized_size";i:38982;s:7:"percent";d:2.6099999999999999;}s:18:"wbhm-featured-home";a:5:{s:7:"success";b:1;s:8:"file_url";s:60:"https://news.wbhm.org/media/2009/08/civil-rights-462x311.jpg";s:13:"original_size";i:60225;s:14:"optimized_size";i:58850;s:7:"percent";d:2.2799999999999998;}s:22:"wbhm-featured-carousel";a:5:{s:7:"success";b:1;s:8:"file_url";s:60:"https://news.wbhm.org/media/2009/08/civil-rights-394x265.jpg";s:13:"original_size";i:46357;s:14:"optimized_size";i:45242;s:7:"percent";d:2.4100000000000001;}s:14:"post-thumbnail";a:5:{s:7:"success";b:1;s:8:"file_url";s:60:"https://news.wbhm.org/media/2009/08/civil-rights-125x125.jpg";s:13:"original_size";i:8904;s:14:"optimized_size";i:8673;s:7:"percent";d:2.5899999999999999;}}}
        )

    [_imagify_status] => Array
        (
            [0] => success
        )

)
1637606291 
1250121600

Birmingham Mayor Larry Langford has issued a blanket pardon to those arrested in the city during the 1960s civil rights protests. Some 2,500, including children and the Reverend Martin Luther King Junior, were jailed during that era of fire hoses and police dogs. But as WBHM’s Andrew Yeager reports, the move seems more about reconciling the past than altering the record books.

Carol Jackson-Walton calls herself an activist. She sits facing a podium and arc of chairs in a library meeting room, waiting for the start of a city council candidates forum. It’s civic participation that’s far less intense than in 1963 when Jackson-Walton suspended her college career to march on the streets of Birmingham. She says police would round protesters up and take them to the courthouse.

“We looked up on the screen. And I said, I was the first person to see their face up there and I had a number. That’s when it became real to me. I have a criminal record.”

That criminal record would grow, as she and others fought a city leadership intent on maintaining segregation.

“I can remember going to jail once. We stayed one night. The next time was two nights. The next time in jail three. Four and then there was one time. I know I was in there an entire week. When I count it all up, maybe 15 or 16 times or more.”

Jackson-Walton’s record could be changed thanks to a blanket pardon issued this week by Birmingham Mayor Larry Langford. It would allow anyone convicted of protesting the city’s segregation laws to apply for a pardon. Langford, who faces a federal bribery trial later this month, says the idea came after a reporter called the city asking if Birmingham had ever issued pardons for civil rights protestors. The city hadn’t. Still the mayor doesn’t expect people to start lining up.

“Because to many who suffer during that era, it’s a badge of courage and a sign of the struggle.”

Three years ago, Alabama passed a law which offered a similar pardon. But a spokesman for the state parole board says just a single person has applied for one under that law. So even though the action may not mean much work for record keepers, Langford says the move is important for healing, as the city says, “I’m sorry.”

“Sometimes an apology does more for the person extending the apology than it does for the person receiving it.”

Former U.S. Attorney Doug Jones successfully prosecuted two former Ku Klux Klansman for the 1963 bombing of Birmingham’s 16th Street Baptist Church. He says the pardon doesn’t just right a wrong, it sends a message.

“Just as with the church bombing cases, Mr. Mayor, justice delayed does not have to be justice denied.”

For many protesters who were arrested, people like Myrna Carter-Jackson, they appreciate the gesture. But she doesn’t feel the need to seek a pardon.

“But pardon us for what? What did we do that we need to be pardoned? You pardon people when they’ve done something wrong. So I don’t remember being a party of something wrong.”

And now, neither does the city of Birmingham count any wrongs.

 

Judge indefinitely postpones sentencing in Trump’s hush money case

The decision to indefinitely adjourn next week's sentencing date comes several days after both lawyers agreed that a stay would help sort out unprecedented legal questions.

Trans health care under Trump may follow the abortion playbook and its Hyde amendment

Republicans spent $222 million on anti-trans and LGBTQ advertising in the campaign. Various policy initiatives are on the incoming administration's to-do list.

6 tourists in Laos have died after drinking tainted alcohol

Tourists from the U.S., Australia, Denmark and the U.K. have died. A tourism police officer said a "number of people" had been detained in the case but that no charges have yet been filed.

TV’s Dr. Oz invested in businesses regulated by the agency Trump wants him to run

The celebrity doctor recently held investments worth tens of millions of dollars in health care, tech, and food companies which could pose significant conflicts of interest.

‘Iced Cherries’: Joe D. Nelson’s take on modern folk and age old tropes

It may be unusual for a musician to refer to his own music as a trope. But that’s what Birmingham singer-songwriter Joe D. Nelson does with his latest album Iced Cherries. 

Searching for tiny dung beetles that clean the vast forest floor

Creating a census of the dung beetles of Massachusetts gives clues into the health of forests and fields.

More Government Coverage