Shattered Glass in Birmingham traces the
experiences of a white northern family during the climax of the
civil rights movement in Alabama?s largest city. Recounted
primarily from Randall Jimerson?s perspective as one of five
children of Reverend Norman C. ?Jim? Jimerson, executive
director of the Alabama Council on Human Relations, the
narrative explores the public and private impact of the civil
rights struggle. Based on extensive archival research as well as
oral histories, Shattered Glass in Birmingham offers the reader
a ground-level view of prejudice, discrimination, violence, and
courage.
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In 1961 the Alabama Council
on Human Relations charged Rev. Jimerson with the critical task
of improving communications and racial understanding between
Alabama?s black and white communities, employing him to travel
extensively throughout the state to coordinate the activities of
Human Relations chapters across Alabama. Along the way, he
developed close working relationships with black and white
ministers, educators, and businessmen and served as an effective
bridge between the communities.
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Rev. Jimerson?s success as a community activist was due largely
to his ability to gain the trust of both white moderates and key
figures in the civil rights movement: Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth, Dr.
Lucius Pitts, Rev. Ralph Abernathy, Rev. Wyatt T. Walker, Rev.
Andrew Young, and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. He represents the
hundreds of people who worked behind the scenes to help achieve the
goals of civil rights activists.Â
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After Klan members killed four young girls in the bombing of
the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in September 1963, Rev.
Jimerson preserved several pieces of stained glass that had
blown out of the church?s windows. Similarly, Shattered Glass in
Birmingham offers us a fresh and important perspective on these
climactic events, supplying one of the many fragments that make
up the complex story of our nation?s fight for civil liberties.
