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Black Lives Matter.

A phrase made popular after the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the 2012 shooting death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Florida. Shortly after the deaths of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri and Eric Garner in New York City, the movement gained momentum and became a national voice protesting incidents of police brutality and racially motivated crimes against Black people.

Unfortunately, countless names have been associated with this movement. There have been multiple debates on its meaning, and it has often been countered (in attempt to discredit the purpose) with All Lives Matter. It was not until recently in the deaths of Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia, Breonna Taylor in Louisville, Kentucky and the highly publicize death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota did we see a mainstream embrace of this movement. These tragic stories have caused heartbreak and much tension in our nation. To many in the Black community these stories are all too common and have historically permeated through our communities.

Sadly, Birmingham knows this impact all too well. Birmingham, a city synonymous with the civil rights movement, felt the horrific impact of racially motivated terrorism for many decades. The city still stands haunted most notably by the deaths of four little girls on a Sunday morning at 16th Street Baptist Church, two young boys on the same day and 16 years later the tragic death of Bonita Carter.

Uche Bean with former mayor Richard Arrington Jr. at the dedication of a memorial marker for Bonita Carter.

These incidents were not isolated; Birmingham had suffered with a long history of police brutality against black folks and events seeped in racial injustice. The history of police violence in Birmingham was made notorious by Eugene Bull Conner, who sent his officers out with high powered water hoses to spray young children in the streets of Birmingham. The presence of the Klan members unscathed by police officers who often moonlighted wearing white hoods riding through black neighborhoods was a constant occurrence. By 1979, things should have been different. There had already been many documented incidents of police brutality that heightened tensions in the rapidly growing Magic City.

On that day in June 1979 something was different. I imagine that people were tired, they wanted a different story to be told and they wanted something to change. Birmingham a symbol of a colossal movement that changed an entire nation had to take another look at itself and make change occur yet again. When Bonitas life was taken it shook the entire city and people took to the streets. Historically, we know the power of protest.

We know when people gather for one cause against injustice it can impact a nation and it can change laws that protect those marginalized and those who may not be able to fight for themselves. The people in Birmingham gathered as they had before and as many in the nation continue to fight for justice.

Uche Bean, daughter of Dynamite Hill, serves in the City of Birminghams Office of Social Justice and Racial Equity.

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40 years after Bonita Carter, the fight continues - AL.com