Montgomery Bus Boycott
Beyond the brawl: Montgomery’s Black community has always fought back
I’ve consumed much of the media spun off from the Montgomery Brawl. The poolside re-enactment. The video setting the fight to the “Good Times” theme song, with associated credits. (“Created by Consequences and Repercussions.” Perfect.) The national reaction to the battle in the city’s Riverfront Park has been remarkable. Even for a state that rivals Florida for footage of […]
Arthur Madison and the long afterlife of courage
We’re going to interrupt the jeremiads of this space for some good news. Back in February, I wrote about Arthur Madison. For those who don’t remember, Madison was an attorney who Alabama disbarred in 1944 — on highly questionable grounds — after he tried to register Black voters in Montgomery. “If you’re a lawyer, that […]
This Alabama civil rights hero is still being punished. Let’s fix that
Across from Montgomery City Hall is a little park named for Lister Hill, who represented Alabama in the U.S. Senate for three decades. In 1911, this park was the home of a store run by Arthur Madison, the son of formerly enslaved parents who helped create the Madison Park community in Montgomery. Madison was 27 […]