Historic Marker Commemorates Gadsden Lynching
Tuesday evening in Gadsden, a historical marker will go up noting one of the most painful parts in American history – a lynching. In 1906 a white mob in Gadsden took a black man named Bunk Richardson from the Etowah County Jail and lynched him from a bridge over the Coosa River. He had been arrested, along with three others, for the rape and murder of a white woman. Richardson was not part of the crime and was never charged, but he knew one of the suspects.
The idea for the marker developed earlier this year after the community-wide reading program Gadsden Reads took up the book “Just Mercy.” The book is written by Bryan Stevenson, the founder of the Montgomery-based Equal Justice Initiative. It looks at discrimination in the judicial system. Gadsden Public Library director Amanda Jackson spoke about the marker with WBHM’s Andrew Yeager. She says the book prompted a look into Gadsden’s painful past.
Interview Highlights
Why so few knew about the Richardson lynching:
“It’s because it happened over 100 years ago. It’s something that didn’t get a lot of play in the media at the time. As with most areas, we don’t study our local history. We may study our country’s history and for one or two years we study Alabama history. We very rarely study the history of where we actually live.”
How the book led to a historic marker:
“As we were researching Bryan and the Equal Justice Initiative, we noticed that they did have a lynching project…they are going through the United States, starting in Montgomery, and they are documenting lynchings that happened. So when we were talking about Buck Richardson, we reached out to them and said we have one, a lynching here that had been well-documented that we can talk about. And then they told us how that project could reach into Gadsden.”
What viewers of the marker should take away:
“I want them to see Gadsden as a place that is not afraid to discuss our history. It is not afraid to discuss both the wonderful things about our history and the very, very ugly things of our history — that we’re not trying to sweep things under the rug, that we are not afraid to embrace difficult conversations.”
Photo from David Lawson via Flickr
Pipe bomb suspect told FBI he targeted U.S. political parties, memo says
The man accused of placing two pipe bombs in Washington on the eve of Jan. 6, 2021 told investigators someone needed to "speak up" for people who believed the 2020 election was stolen, prosecutors said Sunday.
Chinese military stages drills around Taiwan to warn ‘external forces’
The drills came after Beijing expressed anger at U.S. arms sales, and a statement by Japan's prime minister saying its military could get involved if China were to take action against Taiwan.
Trump and Netanyahu to meet in Florida at a crucial moment for the Gaza ceasefire
President Trump could use the face-to-face at his Mar-a-Lago estate to look for ways to speed up the peace process, as Israel's leader has been accused of not pushing his side to move fast enough.
‘Bomb cyclone’ forecasted to bring heavy snow, blizzard conditions and dangerous travel
A 'bomb cyclone' is intensifying severe winter weather for millions of people across the U.S. The system is expected to knock out power and disrupt holiday travel.
Russia sends 3 Iranian satellites into orbit, report says
The report said that a Russian rocket sent the satellites on Sunday from a launchpad in eastern Russia.
Viral global TikToks: A twist on soccer, Tanzania’s Charlie Chaplin, hope in Gaza
TikToks are everywhere (well, except countries like Australia and India, where they've been banned.) We talk to the creators of some of the year's most popular reels from the Global South.
