Washington, DC – Today, Congresswoman Terri A. Sewell (AL-07) released the following statement on the 51^st Commemoration of the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama. Last year, Congresswoman Sewell sponsored legislation to posthumously bestow the Congressional Gold Medal to Addie Mae Collins, Denise McNair, Carole Robertson, and Cynthia Morris Wesley, the “Four Little Girls” who tragically lost their lives during the bombing.

“Today we commemorate the lives and legacies of four precious little girls – Addie Mae Collins, Denise McNair, Carole Robertson, and Cynthia Morris Wesley – who died in the sacred walls of the 16^th Street Baptist Church 51 years ago today. We also honor the lives of two young boys, Johnny Robinson and Virgil Ware, who were killed in Birmingham within hours of the church bombing. The young, innocent lives that were lost that day awakened the slumbering conscience of America and served as a galvanizing force for passage of historic civil rights legislation including the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Their legacy paved the way for me and many of my colleagues to serve in Congress today. For that, we owe them a debt of gratitude. This is why I was humbled that my first successful piece of legislation honored the “four little girls” with the highest civilian honor Congress can bestow upon any individual, the Congressional Gold Medal. These heroines deserve to have their proper place in history and I am proud to have been a part of bestowing this honor posthumously on Addie Mae, Carole, Cynthia, and Denise.

It is not enough, however, that we just reflect and say thank you. When our brothers and sisters of color suffer from some of the same injustices suffered 50 years ago, we cannot ignore that their work has now become our work. We must recommit ourselves to the movement by combatting all modern-day efforts to dismantle the rights they died for. Their hallowed legacy compels us to do no less.”

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