Ten years ago after Alabama’s HB56 anti-immigration bill shook us to the core, BCRI invited the community to gather for a weekend of Latinx heritage, celebration, and reflection. Our free community activities included Spanish interpreted tours of our historic galleries and a courtyard reception with great food, fellowship and live entertainment from TropLKUmbiera.

We presented a full day of free programs including panels, community conversations, and luncheon workshops. With more interpreted tours, attendees took moving and unforgettable journey through history and experienced what life was like in Birmingham as the civil and human rights movements took shape here – in the heart of the Civil Rights District. To help provide boundaries and context for the endeavor, the event was framed around HB56, the Anti-immigration Bill.

The lessons of HB56 remain clear. Our fight against anti-immigrant laws continues. Now, our objective to preserve and tell the Birmingham Civil Rights Story continues. We invited the community to share their experiences in Alabama as a result of HB56 through photographs, audio recordings, and memorabilia. These contributions will be carefully preserved and included in BCRI’s archives for safekeeping and future educational programs. We plan to curate the acquired materials for a planned 2022 Latinx themed exhibit at The Institute.