Remembering the Lives Lost: Commemorating the Birmingham Bombings and the Forgotten Victim
On September 15, 1963, the same day as the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church bombing in Birmingham, Alabama, 14-year-old Virgil Ware was murdered by two young white men. Ware was shot while riding his bike with his brother, and despite the conviction of the perpetrators, they received a lenient sentence. The tragic events of that day, including the deaths of four girls in the church bombing, played a significant role in launching the Civil Rights Movement. The Sixteenth Street Baptist Church will commemorate the 60th anniversary of the bombing with a special event featuring Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson.