A New Foundation
“Maybe the foundation for a new Birmingham will [not] be in mortar and stone, concrete and steel, or industry and commerce, but rather in the memory [of] the innocent blood of these precious children of God.” (Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.)
When four little girls were killed in the horrible bombing of Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Dr. King somehow brought his peace within to the outraged masses, choosing to eulogize the girls with these words. Again, the power of his calm outweighed the power of his pain and inspired people to change the world. That kind of calm leadership and refusal to retaliate allowed him to turn even the darkest moment of his movement into an opportunity for growth.