Today’s guest columnist is Trotter Cobb.
I grew up in Tuscaloosa in the 1950s and 1960s. I see now I lived a life of white privilege. My father had a successful business; we lived comfortably and we had a Black maid and a Black yard man.
I grew up thinking of them as if they were members of our family and content to be in such roles. Continue reading Mountain Brook dad ponders white privilege and special needs son
Today’s guest columnist is Maury Shevin.
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A few weeks have passed since our nation and our city erupted in righteous revulsion to the killing of George Floyd.
Like many, I am still putting events into perspective, but Floyd’s death can only be described as a 21st Century lynching. Continue reading Pollyannish white man: ‘B’ham has reached a tipping point’
Today’s guest columnist is Bill Ivey.
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This story’s about a man who likely disarmed people with his not-so-slick, portly appearance.
He was a lawyer and brilliant strategist who quietly used the law and his mind as weapons. Continue reading The most courageous white man in B’ham history and how he changed our city, state, and nation
Our Alabama legislature screams bloody murder when the federal government passes legislation that overrides Alabama’s wishes.
Our legislators proclaim liberty and states’ rights—yet they rule our cities with an iron hand that deny them the ability to govern.
Gov. Kay Ivey just signed a bill requiring cities to get legislative approval for new occupational taxes, blocking a 1% tax passed by the Montgomery City Council last month. Continue reading How Birmingham can avoid a brawl
Today’s guest blogger is Joe Adams.
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A while back, my good friend Bill Ivey wrote a piece for ComebackTown about the history of Birmingham that recounted the elitists, racists, and snake-oil salesmen who built Birmingham.
It provided a great bibliography, with histories that told the story of how Birmingham was established. After more than a decade here, I’m still learning about the place I now call home.
It’s a lot to ponder. Continue reading Texan married into a family feud when he moved to Birmingham
Today’s guest blogger is Maury Shevin.
If you’d like to be a guest blogger, please click here.
I questioned the diversity of our suburbs when I wrote, “Why we escaped the Mountain Brook bubble.”
But, two recent events have given me pause for reflection. Continue reading Author of ‘Why we escaped the Mtn. Brook bubble’ has second thoughts
You know about the Birmingham haters if you read the comments on al.com, ComebackTown, or any other Birmingham media.
Who are these people?
Why are they so antagonistic towards Birmingham?
And why are they against their own city, county, or region? Continue reading It must suck to be a Birmingham hater
Today’s guest blogger is Robert Milam.
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My heart sank when I read the piece, “Elitists, racists, and snake-oil salesmen built Birmingham,” published on ComebackTown.
My reaction was one of frustration and some embarrassment because it was so focused on the negative parts of Birmingham’s history. Continue reading Our negative history is not the Birmingham I know
Today’s guest blogger is Bill Ivey.
If you’d like to be a guest blogger, please click here.
This is a short tale of the founding of Birmingham, a New South city that would become the only large industrial-based metropolitan area in the Deep South. Continue reading Elitists, racists, and snake-oil salesmen built B’ham
ComebackTown is published by David Sher to begin a discussion on a more prosperous Birmingham.
Today’s guest blogger is Peter Leithart. If you’d like to be a guest blogger, please click here.
Between 1947 and 1965, white vigilantes dynamited fifty black homes and churches in Birmingham.
On one ghastly night in May 1963, assassins tried to kill Martin Luther King, Jr. by bombing his brother’s home and the Gaston Motel, touching off an all-night riot. Continue reading Birmingham: “City of Churches”?