the state by state speak your mind about...alabama

[trof]

38. I was born here in 1941, and raised here.

Grew up in Birmingham and was there for the 60s civil rights movement.
I remember Bull Connor and the dogs and fire hoses.

Fortunately we've made a lot of progress since then, but we still have a way to go.
Racial prejudice is still deeply rooted, ingrained in some, especially among rural and poor/undereducated whites.
But I think it gets better with each subsequent generation.
I'm proud to serve as campaign treasurer for the first black woman to be elected to our city council.

Physically, Alabama is a beautiful state. Foothills of the Appalachians in the north down to the snow white beaches on the Gulf of Mexico.
I live on a lovely, almost pristine, bay just north of the Intracoastal Waterway.
Every day I see Great Blue Herons, cattle egrets, ospreys, pelicans, all manner of gulls, porpoises, deer, foxes, and yesterday a bald eagle roosted for a few minutes in a tree in my back yard.

People are generally friendly and helpful.
The day we moved in a couple showed up at our front door with a bouquet of fresh picked flowers and a bottle of wine to welcome us to the neighborhood. Never had that happen while living near Chicago or Boston.
I thought "Yep, I'm HOME again."


I left the state in my 20s to pursue my career.
I returned in my 50s.
We've made progress on many fronts, but there's still a lot of room for improvement.
Y'all come see us!