Activists Call for Resignations After Davis Controversy
Local activists called for leaders of the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute to resign Monday after the organization canceled plans to honor human rights advocate Angela Davis. The group planned to present Davis with the prestigious Fred Shuttlesworth Human Rights Award next month.
The Civil Rights Institute announced in October it would honor Davis, a Birmingham native and prominent political scholar. The board says it rescinded the award after determining Ms. Davis’ statements and public record do not “meet all of the criteria on which the award is based.”
Davis was a member of the Black Panther and Communist parties. She was a vocal critic of the Israeli government’s policies toward Palestinians.
Davis grew up in a Birmingham community called Dynamite Hill, so named because the Ku Klux Klan frequently bombed the homes of blacks lawyers, business owners and leaders who lived there in the civil rights era.
The author of 10 books, Davis has lectured throughout the United States and in Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia and South America. Her works address the social problems associated with incarceration, poverty and race. In the early 1970s, she spent 18 months in jail and on trial after being placed on the FBI’s “Ten Most Wanted List.”
Frank Matthews, a Birmingham activist, says the BCRI disrespected Davis. He says leaders today should reflect the character, energy and activism of Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth, a leader of the Birmingham Civil Rights movement. He called on current leadership of the institute to step down.
“We need a new director – one with some courage to stand up and not be just a silent pretty voice going for anything,” Matthews says. “She should have stood up if she meant for Angela to be here.”
In October, when the organization announced Davis as the award recipient, Andrea Taylor, president of the BCRI, said the group was thrilled to honor her.
“Arguably, she’s one of the most globally recognized champions of human rights, giving voice to those who are powerless to speak. We believe the late Reverend Shuttlesworth would also have been proud to see this award in his name bestowed upon her,” Taylor said in a prepared statement when the award presentation was initially announced.
The Civil Rights Institute president could not be reached for comment Monday. A statement on the organization’s website says the awards gala has been cancelled and tickets will be refunded.
Davis responded to the controversy late Monday, saying she asked for more substantive details on the board’s decision and learned that her long-term support of justice for Palestinians was at issue.
She says she will visit Birmingham in February to attend an alternative event.
Construction on Meta’s largest data center brings 600% crash spike, chaos to rural Louisiana
An investigation from the Gulf States Newsroom found that trucks contracted to work at the Meta facility are causing delays and dangerous roads in Holly Ridge.
Bessemer City Council approves rezoning for a massive data center, dividing a community
After the Bessemer City Council voted 5-2 to rezone nearly 700 acres of agricultural land for the “hyperscale” server farm, a dissenting council member said city officials who signed non-disclosure agreements weren’t being transparent with citizens.
Alabama Public Television meeting draws protesters in Birmingham over discussion of disaffiliating from PBS
Some members of the Alabama Educational Television Commission, which oversees APT, said disaffiliation is needed because the network has to cut costs after the Trump administration eliminated all funding for public media this summer.
Gov. Kay Ivey urges delay on PBS decision by public TV board
The Republican governor sent a letter to the Alabama Educational Television Commission ahead of a Nov. 18 meeting in which commissioners were expected to discuss disaffiliation.
A proposed Bessemer data center faces new hurdles: a ‘road to nowhere’ and the Birmingham darter
With the City Council in Bessemer scheduled to vote Tuesday on a “hyperscale” data center, challenges from an environmental group and the Alabama Department of Transportation present potential obstacles for the wildly unpopular project.
Birmingham Museum of Art’s silver exhibit tells a dazzling global story
Silver and Ceremony is made up of more than 150 suites of silver, sourced from India, and some of their designs.
