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    Lessons from Birmingham: 60 years after the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing

    This city is remembering a dark chapters in U.S. civil rights history. On September 15, 1963 the Ku Klux Klan bombed a church, killing four Black girls and rocking the conscience of the nation.
    by Debbie Elliott Sep 14, 2023 5 minutes
    On Sept. 15, 1963 the Ku Klux Klan bombed the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Ala. This week, the city is remembering one of the darkest chapters in civil rights history.

    BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – This city is remembering one of the nation's darkest chapters in civil rights history. On September 15, 1963 the Ku Klux Klan bombed a downtown church, killing four Black girls and rocking the conscience of the nation.

    Carolyn McKinstry was the Sunday School secretary at 16th Street Baptist Church in 1963 and remembers the day of bombing in vivid detail.

    "Our lesson for that Sunday morning was a love that forgives," she recalls. "It was youth Sunday. Everyone was excited about that."

    McKinstry, 15 at the time, retraces her footsteps through the church that day, starting in the basement, where Sunday School classes were held. She left early to take the collection upstairs to the church office.

    "When I reached the top of the stairs, the phone is ringing and there's

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