Category Archives: David Sher posts

50 Shades of grey–successful book–maybe it will work for Birmingham

When I was growing up, Birmingham was black and white.

Blacks were required to sit in the back of the bus; there were separate restrooms and water fountains for colored and white; and the schools were segregated.

As a child I had a sense that something wasn’t quite right because one day while riding on a public bus with my mom I asked if it was okay to offer my seat to a black woman.  Her response still rings in my ear.  “David, you can’t do that–someone might hurt us.” Continue reading 50 Shades of grey–successful book–maybe it will work for Birmingham

Birmingham has done it again!

It’s one of those things we take for granted living in our Birmingham region.

It’s an important quality of life issue—one we seem to take for granted.

We may be at the bottom of many lists, but this one—we excel.

The idea for this piece came in the form of an e-mail…

“David, todays bham news….Mayor in shootout , Katapodis appeal denied, and Malzahn new auburn coach…that’s our front page headlines….buried on page 8 or so….the REALLY GOOD NEWS Continue reading Birmingham has done it again!

How’s metro Birmingham doing? Ask Southwest Airlines

When I write about Birmingham, I typically receive comments like, “The City of Birmingham’s a disaster, but metro Birmingham and the suburbs are doing just fine.”

Certainly the City of Birmingham has seen better days, but when our city sneezes our suburbs catch a cold.

In previous blogs I’ve mentioned that Birmingham’s metro is the slowest growing of its Southern peers Continue reading How’s metro Birmingham doing? Ask Southwest Airlines

So goes Birmingham…so goes America

The presidential election is over.

Many people felt this election would make or break America.

When discussing the ramifications of the U.S. going broke or being driven into socialism, this small blog about metro Birmingham seems inconsequential.

Then I ran into this piece written by Jim Clifton, Chairman and CEO of Gallup, and he reinforced the importance of our efforts to make our metro Birmingham great. Continue reading So goes Birmingham…so goes America

What if Moses was Mayor of Birmingham?

Moses was a remarkable guy.

He parted the Red Sea, brought us the Ten Commandments, and delivered the Israelites to the Promised Land.

If you need someone to accomplish a task, Moses’ resume looks pretty good.

However, even if you could convince Moses to run for political office in metro Birmingham, he would be unable to make us competitive. Continue reading What if Moses was Mayor of Birmingham?

Metro Birmingham should secede from Alabama

As you may have heard a petition filed by a Chuncula resident seeking Alabama’s withdrawal from the U.S. reached 25,000 signatures and now requires a response from the White House.

The petition asks the administration to “peacefully grant the state of Alabama to withdraw from the United States of America and create its own new government.”

Well, if this is a good idea, I’ve got an even better one. Continue reading Metro Birmingham should secede from Alabama

Black folks are moving into your neighborhoods

Nothing makes me angrier than to see anti-Birmingham; anti-black comments following my blog.

The racial comments are usually insinuated, but they are there—none the less.

There’s a community of people in our region who accuse Birmingham of failing and blame African-Americans for it. Continue reading Black folks are moving into your neighborhoods