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.”
Mayor Randall Woodfin plans to pardon more than 15,000 Birmingham residents convicted of marijuana possession.
The plan is for Jefferson County to purchase lots one and two of the property, which would remain under county ownership. The Greater Birmingham Humane Society would purchase lot three and build an animal hospital and adoption control facility there.
Chauvin, a former Minneapolis police officer, has been found guilty of unintentional second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter.
Many rural health leaders believe community health centers, which were born in the 60s to reach low-income communities of color, were a missing piece in achieving equity in the vaccine rollout.
The five-member board will have the authority to investigate citizen complaints and will have some subpoena powers to aid those investigations.
Last week's overwhelming vote against forming a union at Amazon's Bessemer warehouse was the latest in a string of disappointments for labor unions. Now Amazon employees and union backers are trying to find a way forward.
