Birmingham Civil Rights Institute museum.
The Birmingham Civil Rights Institute will receive $250,000 in emergency funding from the city of Birmingham to continue operating for the next four months.
The museum and educational research center has been closed since March due to COVID-19, but its financial problems predate the pandemic. In February, the BCRI revealed it was facing a $600,000 budget shortfall; its yearly operating costs are an estimated $3 million.
The council unanimously approved the funding but told BCRI board Chairman Isaac Cooper that the institute should begin looking for other ways to raise money. As District 8 Councilor Steven Hoyt put it, city funding “may or may not be there” in the future, thanks to a severe drop in city revenue due to the pandemic.
Hoyt suggested that the BCRI sell a coffee table book or other commemorative items. Councilor Wardine Alexander said the institute should consider virtual tours and a more aggressive marketing plan.
Councilor Darrell O’Quinn, meanwhile, called on the private sector to fund the BCRI. “It’s an organization that’s been in existence for 28 years, yet it has no endowments. That is appalling, in my opinion,” he said.
“Over recent months, we have seen corporate organizations one after the other issue statements about diversity and antiracism. That is the work of the Civil Rights Institute. If you really want to show that you are committed to those statements … rise to the occasion and support the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute.”
Alabama will receive about 41,000 doses of a COVID-19 vaccine, which will be distributed at 16 vaccination sites at hospitals across the state.
Some Birmingham-area food banks are scrambling to keep food on the table for their clients.
Children of color will make up the majority of the child population and the majority of the workforce in Alabama by 2030, according to the 2020 Alabama Kids Count report.
Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey said the longer schools are disrupted, the more likely kids will suffer academically.
The Jefferson County Commission is expected Thursday to amend its disbursement of Cares Act funds to include mortgage assistance for residents adversely affected by the novel coronavirus pandemic.
The city will borrow money from its general fund reserve amid concerns from some council members.
