Well, I'm back from a lovely trip to Birmingham, where I spoke at a forum on reparations at the University of Alabama--Birmingham on Friday night. It's been a long time since I've been in my former home state -- nearly three years, actually. And it was a real pleasure to go back and see the city again. It is easy to overlook the extraordinary beauty of Alabama when you're living there every day. And given that I lived in Tuscaloosa it was easy to miss out on many of the terrific cultural and social opportunities of Birmingham.
Long-time readers of the faculty lounge know a trip means ... pictures! I had a little time free on Friday afternoon and I made the rounds of downtown Birmingham. There's the lovely modern Birmingham art museum -- which, despite its modern appearance was, as I recall, segregated when it first opened. Tuesday was African American day, if I remember correctly. Next to the art museum is the Convention Center, where Dixiecrats met in 1948 and nominated Strom Thurmond for president.
Across the street from the art museum and the convention center is the Linn Park. Get this: the park regulations. I'm probably not the only person who thought about the rules of statutory construction after reading rule number 4 -- "Vehicles are not allowed in the park." H.L.A. Hart would have loved this! So, no baby carriages, right?
And since Linn Park is across the street from the City Hall, I knew there had to be a Confederate monument somewhere. This is on the older side; it was dedicated in 1905. I'm sure that the African American men sitting near the monument thought I was some kind of neo-Confederate nut. I get that a lot -- until people get to know me. At some point I want to talk about some of my other recollections of Birmingham. The Jefferson County criminal court is across the street from the art museum and there's where I saw the trial of Bobby Frank Cherry -- the last of the bombers of the 16th Street Baptist Church to go on trial.
Birmingham is really awesome city but never chance to go there , the Linn Park is such a wonderful , i really glad to know about that.
Posted by: va home for sale | February 22, 2011 at 02:23 AM