Book Review:There's Hope for the World, The Memoir of Birmingham, Alabama's first African American Mayor
Michael Bell
Issue date: 4/9/09 Section: Arts & Entertainment
Birmingham was once home to Eugene "Bull" Conner, who in 1961 used his authority as Commissioner of Public Safety to terrorize the African-American citizens of Birmingham. Conner ordered police officers to release dogs on crowds of civil rights demonstrators, and forced firefighters to douse innocent children with high-powered water hoses. These were the images broadcasted around the world when Birmingham was known as "the most segregated city in the world."
Eighteen years after Bull Conner ruled the streets of Birmingham, Richard Arrington was elected the city's first African-American mayor. In his most recent memoir, There's Hope for the World, Arrington reflects on his journey from Miles College to Detroit and back to Birmingham to serve an unprecedented five terms as the city's chief executive. Arrington tells of his efforts to revive the former steel city's ailing economy, school system, and public image.
There's Hope for the World begins in 1955 with Arrington boarding a bus headed for Detroit. The recent graduate of Miles College was on his way to become a graduate assistant at the University of Detroit. It is while Arrington is in Detroit that he experiences his first taste of racial integration. The social mixing between blacks and whites gives Arrington a new perspective on the Jim Crow laws of the South. In 1957, Arrington earns his master's degree and returns to Birmingham to become a professor at Miles College.
Arrington takes note of the city's increasing racial tension and violence during the 1960s. Arrington tells of the city's numerous bombings and murders of innocent blacks and their white supporters. Arrington writes of his first time meeting Dr. Martin Luther King at a meeting of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. It is during these years that Arrington begins to contemplate the future of the African - American community in Birmingham. Arrington wishes that the integration he experienced in Detroit would soon come to his hometown of Birmingham.
Eighteen years after Bull Conner ruled the streets of Birmingham, Richard Arrington was elected the city's first African-American mayor. In his most recent memoir, There's Hope for the World, Arrington reflects on his journey from Miles College to Detroit and back to Birmingham to serve an unprecedented five terms as the city's chief executive. Arrington tells of his efforts to revive the former steel city's ailing economy, school system, and public image.
There's Hope for the World begins in 1955 with Arrington boarding a bus headed for Detroit. The recent graduate of Miles College was on his way to become a graduate assistant at the University of Detroit. It is while Arrington is in Detroit that he experiences his first taste of racial integration. The social mixing between blacks and whites gives Arrington a new perspective on the Jim Crow laws of the South. In 1957, Arrington earns his master's degree and returns to Birmingham to become a professor at Miles College.
Arrington takes note of the city's increasing racial tension and violence during the 1960s. Arrington tells of the city's numerous bombings and murders of innocent blacks and their white supporters. Arrington writes of his first time meeting Dr. Martin Luther King at a meeting of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. It is during these years that Arrington begins to contemplate the future of the African - American community in Birmingham. Arrington wishes that the integration he experienced in Detroit would soon come to his hometown of Birmingham.
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Jacksonville Movers
posted 6/15/09 @ 10:02 AM CST
This looks like a very interesting read. We could certainly learn a lot from Arrington and his experiences.
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