Friday, March 03, 2000
Councilman and son to join civil-rights pilgrimage
BY ALLEN HOWARD
The Cincinnati Enquirer
About 200 people from across the country will gather this weekend in a pilgrimage back to what is known as the birthplaces of the civil-rights movement: Birmingham, Montgomery and Selma, Ala.
Most of them will leave from Washington, D.C., about 2 p.m., today and fly to Birmingham. Others will join the group in Birmingham on Saturday and Sunday, said E. Terri LaVelle, program director for the Faith & Politics Institute, sponsor of the pilgrimage.
“The purpose of the pilgrimage is to give people a chance for moral reflection ... and drawing inspiration from a range of religious traditions,” Ms. LaVelle said. “The birthplaces of the civil-rights movement offer that opportunity.”
Cincinnati Councilman Paul Booth and his son, Paul Jr., will be a part of the pilgrimage.
Mr. Booth and his son will leave Cincinnati this morning a for Washington, D.C.
“I think it is important that we renew our knowledge of what those who have gone before us did,” Mr. Booth said. “People fought hard and some died to get us where we are today. This is a chance for reflections on those precious moments in our history.”
Mr. Booth and his son are the only Cincinnatians who will participate in the pilgrimage.
The pilgrimage will start with a gathering at the Tutwiler Hotel in Birmingham today, followed by a tour of the Civil Rights Institute.
On Saturday morning, the group will gather at the 16th Street Baptist Church where four little girls were killed when the church was firebombed in 1963. The incident was the subject of a television documentary produced by Spike Lee.
The pilgrimage will move Saturday to Montgomery for a gathering at the Civil Rights Memorial at the First Baptist Church on Dexter Avenue.
On Sunday, the group is scheduled to march from Birmingham to Selma, and pose for a photo on the historic Edmund Pettus Bridge, scene of the Voting Rights March of 1965. They will attend an “Unsung Heroes” breakfast at Selma University.
President Clinton is scheduled to join the group Sunday at the Brown Chapel AME Church in Selma.
At 2:30 p.m., the pilgrimage moves from the church back across the Edmund Pettus Bridge to re-enact the Voting Rights March.
The Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth, who was part of most of the marches during the 1960s, said he had planned to attend the pilgrimage, but cannot because of an injury he suffered Tuesday night.
“I was leaving a meeting of the church and slipped and fell on the sidewalk,” the Rev. Mr. Shuttlesworth said. “I hurt my hip, but I did not fracture any bones.”
He said he supports the pilgrimage.
“I thank God that I was able to be a part of the civil-rights movements in Alabama and helped to bring about change. By going back and reflecting on what has been accomplished, I hope we can blend together and learn to live together,” he said.
The Faith and Politics Institute is based in Washington, D.C. It was established in 1991 as an interfaith and nonpartisan group.
Ms. LaVelle said the group offers occasional retreats for members of Congress to interact with the public outside of Washington.
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