“While The World Watched” Carolyn Maull McKinstry Presentation

Opener Imagine it is a regular day - you are with four of your best friends at a place that you consider safe (church, school, a store or your home). The telephone rings. You answer and hear a voice on the other end that states “3 minutes”. Before you have time to react a bomb explodes, killing your friends and leaving you as the lone survivor. What is your response? How do you feel? What do you do to ensure your friends did not die in vain? How do you honor the memory of your friends?

Think-Write-Pair Share Take a moment to think about the scenario presented. Write your response to the scenario. (5-7 minutes) Share your response to the scenario with a partner. (5-7 minutes) Record your partners response. (3-5 minutes)

Carolyn McKinstry Carolyn McKinstry grew up in Birmingham, Alabama in the 1950’s-1960’s during the most tumultuous decades in black-white relations in the history of America. At age 14, Carolyn worked at the 16th Street Baptist Church, the cornerstone of the emerging Civil Rights Movement and was present in the church on September 15th, 1963 when a bomb blast killed four young women.

Quotation Response “I had never thought much about the “whites only” and “coloreds” signs posted above public facilities. I didn’t know why white people drank from one water fountain and black people drank from another water fountain or why they used a different toilet. Why did white people sit in the front of city buses and black people sit in the back, behind the signs that said “coloreds”? I didn’t know. It was just the way it was. I had grown up with the signs, and I simply obeyed their instructions, as my parents and grandparents had taught me.” Carolyn McKinstry

Quotation Response Directions: After reading the quotations on with a reflection, comment or question. Refrain from a simple summary of the quotation. (Carolyn McKinstry quotations excerpted from While the World Watched: A Birmingham Bombing Survivor Comes of Age during the Civil Rights Movement, Tyndale House Publishers Inc., 2011)

Quotation Response “I didn’t feel angry of inferior because I had to use the toilets that were marked “coloreds”. Not until Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. came to our church and called the signs and other inequalities to our attention did I really start to notice them and their underlying message. I couldn’t understand at the time that the signs were symbolic and symptomatic – of deeper issues within our society.” Carolyn McKinstry

Quotation Response “I didn’t know to worry about dying because of my skin color. But the thought kept echoing and refused to leave my mind: People will actually kill us over this! What is this thing about skin? And I felt helpless because I was just a child and I couldn’t change anything.” Carolyn Mckinstry

Quotation Response “We had had unsolved bombings for years in my city. Bombs exploded, and the city of Birmingham went on with business as usual. No arrests were made, so there were no convictions. We heard no public apologies, few empathetic speeches from the white community. No one sent letters of righteous indignation or sympathy. A bomb exploded and it proved just another day in the life of Birmingham Negroes.” Carolyn McKinstry

Quotation Response “Whites all over Alabama and the nation seemed to think that the Civil Rights movement was just about sitting next to black people in the classrooms or using the same toilets and public facilities. Blacks, however, saw this as a bigger issue. They wanted equal access and opportunities to do whatever their talents and resources would allow them to do. Blacks wanted life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness – whatever that meant to each person individually. But in a nutshell, we wanted freedom.” Carolyn McKinstry

Quotation Response “The thought of death and bombs frightened me. I felt powerless to do anything about the hatred and violence in this city – my city. My inner voice spoke loud and clear to me: Carolyn, it’s not if you will get blown up and killed by a bomb, but when. It’s just a matter of time, and then it will be your turn. One day a bomb will explode, and you will not escape it. Like Denise, Addie, Carole and Cynthia.” Carolyn McKinstry

Quotation Response “The innocent blood of these little girls may well serve as a redemptive force that will bring new light to this dark city. The spilled blood of these innocent girls may cause the whole citizenry of Birmingham to transform the negative extremes of a dark past into the positive extremes of a bright future. Indeed the tragic event may cause the white South to come to terms with its conscience.” Martin Luther King Jr.

Quotation Response “These children – unoffending, innocent, and beautiful – were the victims of one of the most vicious and tragic crimes ever perpetrated against humanity. And yet they died nobly. They are martyred heroines of a holy crusade for freedom and human dignity.” Martin Luther King Jr.

Quotation Response “In the time immediately after the church bombing, no one spoke of the tragedy or the girls who died. Not the afternoon of the bombing. Not the night. Not the next day or the next month or the next year. After the funerals, no one mentioned again the four dead girls – my friends. Not my parents, not my teachers, not my pastor, not my Sunday school teachers, not my church members, not my friends. No one. It was like the word cancer. No one wanted to say it out loud or acknowledge it. “ Carolyn McKinstry

Carolyn McKinstry Presentation *Clicking on the book hyperlinks to Carolyn McKinstry on-line presentation.

Presentation Discussion Questions How does Mrs. McKinstry describe life in Birmingham, Alabama during the 1950’s and 1960’s? List two or three examples of discrimination that African-Americans faced in Alabama during this time. Identify the significance of the 16th Street Baptist Church to the African-American community in Birmingham, Alabama before and during the Civil Rights Movement as described by Mrs. McKinstry. How did Mrs. McKinstry’s parents attempt to protect her from segregation and violence in Birmingham during her childhood?

Presentation Discussion Questions 4. Mrs. McKinstry discusses Dr. King’s speech at the 16th Street Baptist Church, what effect did his speech have on her? Why was non-violence important? What did Dr. King want to change about Birmingham? 5. Mrs. McKinstry discusses two specific experiences with segregation – her grandmother in the hospital and her exclusion from the national spelling bee, reflect on her experiences. Have you ever experienced discrimination based on something beyond your control – age, race, religion or gender? Please describe your experience below. 6. Mrs. McKinstry decides to march with other children and students in Birmingham, Alabama in August of 1963. Why does she decide to march? Why was Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. hesitant about the children participating in the march? Identify two reasons why Reverend Shuttlesworth wanted to use the children/students.  

Presentation Discussion Questions 7. Mrs. McKinstry discusses the constant threat of bombings in Birmingham, Alabama during her youth – describe what it would be like to leave someplace where your life was in constant physical danger. How would you feel about this? 8. Describe the bombing of the 16th Street Church from Mrs. McKinstry’s perspective.

Carolyn McKinstry Presentation Activity: Read the following except from Carolyn McKinstry’s, While the World Watched: A Birmingham Bombing Survivor Comes of Age During the Civil Rights Movement (Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 2011) along with Carolyn McKinstry. Underline or circle the passage that most resonates with you. *Clicking on the book hyperlinks to Carolyn McKinstry on-line presentation.

History of Me Carolyn McKinstry framed her book and her speaking presentation around growing up in Birmingham, Alabama and how her life was intersected by events beyond her control. Often without realizing it local, state, national and international events impact our lives in positive and negative ways. Brainstorm 5-7 important events from your life. Brainstorm 5-7 local, state, national and international events that have occurred during your lifetime.

History of Me Using a piece of 11X17 paper or a power point slide construct an illustrated timeline of at least five items from your personal life and five items from your list of world events that have had an impact on your life. Timeline entries should include the date, a title and an illustration (hand drawn or a photograph). Writing Assignment: On a separate sheet of paper, identify how the world events you listed have left an imprint on your life. One (5-8 sentence) paragraph should be devoted to each local, state or national world event that appears on your timeline.

February, 1984 May, 1978 Born in Fresno, CA Sister Jeanine born April 1995, Oklahoma City Bombing September 11th, 2001 Terrorist Attacks November, 2008 Election of Barack Obama July, 2009 Son, Bryce is born August, 2004 Began working at Franklin High School July 7th, 1981 Sandra Day O’Connor 1st Female Supreme Court Justice January 28th, 1986 Challenger Space Shuttle Explosion November, 1996 Presidential Election