It was on this day in 1963, that Domestic terrorists bombed the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama—taking the lives of 4 young girls. Although the FBI had a suspect, J Edgar Hoover inexpiably shut down the investigation and buried the evidence. 5 years after Hoover’s death, in 1977, the case was re-opened and a member of the KKK was found guilty and sentenced to life behind bars. It is in honor of Addie Mae Collins, Carol Denise McNair, Carole Rosanond Robertson and Cynthia Dionne Wesley—4 young girls between the ages of 11 and 14—silenced in the prime of their innocence—that we are dedicating tonight’s program to… Youth.
