The Birmingham Pledge turns 15

It has been 15 years since a Birmingham attorney named James E. Rotch authored the Birmingham Pledge and offered it to the attendees of a Martin Luther King, Jr. Unity Breakfast in Birmingham. His personal statement of commitment to end prejudice has now been signed by more than 115,000 people, including Desmond Tutu and Bill […]

In search of surrealism in a Cuba Libre

I really thought I had jinxed everyone after my last trip to Cuba in July. I came back and wrote in the “Weekly Day Tripper” that if you can get into Havana you ought to go to the new hotspots on the Malecon, Vida Via and Café Neruda. That suggestion emerged in print just about […]

War On Dumb

On the surface, it’s one of those stories too juicy to ignore. Birmingham Mayor Larry Langford wants to build fountains. And not just those penny-ante faux wishing wells they used to have in all the malls. Mayor Langford wants to build serious fountains, enormous fountains of class and distinction. Mayor Langford wants the kinds of […]