Revisiting Willie Brewster's death

About a month ago my dad sent me an Anniston Star series of articles about the 1965 killing of Willie Brewster. He was gunned down by nightriders on Highway 202 just outside of Anniston.

On that same stretch of highway on Mothers Day 1961, a Greyhound bus headed to Birmingham with Freedom Riders on board was torched by a Klan friendly mob dressed in their Sunday best. About one year after that incident, and just a few years before Brewster was shot dead, I spent my kindergarten year living in a little house just off of the Old Birmingham Highway 202, probably within a mile of these heinous crimes. I commend the Star for revising the events of 1965, including the trial that led to the conviction of Hubert Damon Strange in the killing of Willie Brewster.

I'm headed down to Anniston in about a week. I plan to go back to the historical marker out on Highway 202 where the bus was burned so that I can get GPS coordinates to help others find it. Not sure if there's a marker where Mr. Brewster was killed. In any case, I recommend the Annistar Star series, and especially the article ("Guns, bombs and Kenneth Adams") about the notorious Klan leader who set the tone for the terror metted out in violent doses against African Americans like Willie Brewster. Whites who tried to improve race relations were not immune from threats of violence as well, as is noted in the Anniston Star article. I'm particularly impressed with the bravery shown by the former pastor of the First Presbyterian Church in Anniston, Phil Noble. I've written about him before in a previous post, but was struck again by the risks he took when I read in the article cited above about Kenneth Adams' plans to bomb Noble's church.

I encourage you to read the article. Read about Willie Brewster and his family. 1965 may seem like a long time ago, but his family continues to deal with their loss.

Looking back: Anniston Star's endorsement and the comments it provoked

In preparing for a presentation about Alabama and the 2008 election I came across this Anniston Star endorsement of Barack Obama for President:

Barack Obama is a candidate with impeccable timing. Just as the nation prepared for the quadrennial exercise in cynicism and polarization, onto the stage strode a little-known freshman senator from Illinois whose biggest claim to fame was a speech at the 2004 Democratic convention.

Obama struck a deep chord with a broad swath of Americans. He oozes optimism, calm in the face of intense pressure and a sincere offer of hope to a populace hungry for something better than politics as usual.

After President Bush’s two terms of constitutional abuse, far-right economic policies that have wrecked the economy and broad ineptitude at home and abroad, the nation hungers for what Obama offers voters heading to the polls Tuesday: change.

For this reason and others, the Editorial Board of The Anniston Star recommends Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama.