Greene County Democrat

Tag: Dr. John M. Giggie

  • 61st anniversary of “Bloody Tuesday” in Tuscaloosa celebrates and honors the footsoldiers who made that day happen and seeks a direction to go forward

    By John Zippert, Co-Publisher

    On Sunday afternoon there was a commemoration of “Bloody Tuesday” at the First African Baptist Church in downtown Tuscaloosa. The same church, where 500 Black protestors were gathered on June 9, 1964, to follow pastor, Rev. T. Y. Rogers, in a non-violent march to the Tuscaloosa County Courthouse, to protest the segregated facilities including separate bathrooms and water fountains, in the county’s central public building.
    The marchers were turned back by local law enforcement and deputized local segregationists. The marchers were then beaten and tear-gassed in the church, which also sustained significant physical damage. It was the greatest assault on a Black church during the 1960’s Civil Rights Movement. More people were assaulted and injured than in the attack on marchers on “Bloody Sunday”, eight months later in Selma, Alabama.
    Bloody Tuesday was a turning point in the civil rights movement in Tuscaloosa. Rev. T. Y. Rogers, a native of Sumter County and an assistant to Dr. Martin Luther King, continued to organize and rally people to desegregate facilities and services in Tuscaloosa, which was home to the University of Alabama and the state headquarters of the Klu Klux Klan, at that time.
    Dr. Ramsey O’Daniel, current Chairperson of the Tuscaloosa Bloody Tuesday Committee gave a welcome to the 200 people assembled for the commemoration. The Bloody Sunday Mass Choir sang enthusiastically throughout the program.
    Ulysses Lavender, Bloody Tuesday Committee leader gave the occasion for the program. He stressed the theme of “Celebrating a Turning Point and Where do we go from here”. He praised the people who came to the church to march and protest. He said only a small number, mostly young people at the time, are still living. “These footsolders sacrificed for all of us, now we must finish the job they started to reach full equality and justice for all people.”
    Dr. John M. Giggie, Professor of History at the University of Alabama, who wrote the book, Bloody Tuesday: The Fight for Civil Rights in Tuscaloosa, published by Oxford University Press in 2024, which is the definitive book on this incident in civil rights history, spoke next on the program. Dr. Giggie is also a member of the Bloody Tuesday Committee and spent ten years researching and interviewing footsolders, in writing his book, which was published last year.
    Dr. Giggie reported on his book tour since last year’s 60th celebration of Bloody Tuesday. He said the questions he is most asked at presentations are 1. Why people do not know about ‘Bloody Tuesday’ in Tuscaloosa; 2. Why Dr. King did not return to Tuscaloosa, after Bloody Tuesday, and 3. What can people do and what are people doing to continue the legacy of Bloody Tuesday.
    Giggie said that people do not know as much about Bloody Tuesday as they do about Bloody Sunday in Selma because the press coverage was suppressed by local civic leadership and news sources. They said that there was a riot by Black people in Tuscaloosa which was handled locally. The press also shifted its civil rights attention to the 1964 Mississippi Freedom Summer and the murder of 3 civil rights workers – Chaney, Goodwin and Schwerner – in Neshoba County, Miss.
    He says based on his studies that Dr. King did not return to Tuscaloosa, after Bloody Tuesday, “Because Tuscaloosa had all that it needed to sustain a movement. It had a trusted leader in Rev. T. Y. Rogers, backed by local religious leaders, courageous footsoldiers and women who were working in fundraising. It also had the support of young people including high school students and Stillman College students. Tuscaloosa had what it needed, Dr. King could turn his attention to other communities.
    In answer to the last questions, Giggle said that the Bloody Tuesday Committee has made progress in getting support from Tuscaloosa officials to recognize the lack of accountability by their predecessors. The city has named streets for footsoldiers like Maxie Thomas. It is also building a park to honor Rev. Linton who was a church leader backing Rev. T. Y. Rogers. The committee has also brought footsoldiers and the hidden history of Bloody Sunday to the schools of Tuscaloosa. Dr. Giggie in concluding his remarks said “ Ask the civil rights veteran and footsoldiers how you can help and what you should do now to further the movement in Tuscaloosa.
    Two other guest speakers, Rev. Vernon Swift, Pastor of Elizabeth Baptist Church and Rev. David E. Gray, Pastor of Mount Buelah Baptist Church and Director of Whatley Health Services, gave remarks related to the biblical passage concerning God’s transferring the mantle of leadership from Moses to Joshua. They spoke on the importance of people taking the leadership that the footsoldiers gave six decades ago and making the continuing social changes needed in Tuscaloosa today, under the guidance of God.
    Ms. Irene Byrd, herself a footsoldier from 1964, recognized the footsoldiers in the audience, who she asked to stand. About a dozen people stood up to be recognized. Ms. Byrd said, “We don’t know the names of all the people who were in the church that day, known and unknown, those who came with shoes and those who were barefoot, those who were fashionably dressed and those who were in raggedy clothes, ready to go to jail.” She thanked everyone for coming and invited all to join the Blood Tuesday Committee. Ms. Ruby Simon also recognized the sponsors of the meeting.
    In his closing remarks, Dr. Ransey O’Daniel said there were only a few people left who were in the church on June 9, 2025, but we all must be footsoldiers for the changes needed in our city, state, nation and society going forward.
    Persons interested in joining the Bloody Tuesday Committee, can send the yearly $20 membership fee to: Bloody Tuesday Committee, c/o Van-Hoose and Steele Funeral Home, 2615 Stillman Blvd., Tuscaloosa, AL 35401.

  • 60th anniversary of ‘Bloody Tuesday’ commemorated in Tuscaloosa at First African Baptist Church

    Praise dancers in front of First African Baptist Church

    Special to the Democrat by John Zippert, Co-Publisher

     

    On Sunday, June 9, 2024, the sanctuary of First African Baptist Church in Tuscaloosa, Alabama was packed with people to celebrate the 60th anniversary of ‘Bloody Tuesday’.

    On June 9, 1964, over 500 people gathered at the same church, in a mass meeting to prepare a non-violent march to the Tuscaloosa County Courthouse, four blocks away, to integrate the facility’s rest rooms, drinking fountains and offices which were segregated by race. The march and the Tuscaloosa movement were led by Rev. T. Y. Rogers, a close associate of Dr. Martin Luther King and part of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). Rogers was a native of Sumter County in the Alabama Black Belt.

    As the marchers were leaving the church, they were met by Tuscaloosa Police, Sheriff’s deputies, Alabama State Troopers, and Klu Klux Klansmen who beat them violently with clubs, batons and baseball bats. The marchers retreated into the church. The police turned on fire hoses, smashing the churches-stained glass windows and then fired tear gas into the church. As the marchers fled the church they were again beaten, and some were jailed.

    In all, some forty people were injured and hospitalized, 95 were jailed and others were physically and psychologically bruised in the largest and most violent attack on a church during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960’s. This occurred 8 months before the “Bloody Sunday’ march in Selma and laid the basis for that voting rights campaign.

    The 1964 Civil Rights Act was passed by Congress a month after “Bloody Tuesday’ opening public accommodations to Black people in the South. Rev. T. Y. Rogers continued the marches until facilities in Tuscaloosa were desegregated and open to all. The news coverage of the events of June 9, 1964, have been limited. Most followed the Tuscaloosa News’ lead, which labeled the confrontation at the church as a “Black riot”. Soon other developments like the Mississippi Freedom Summer, overshadowed the June 1964 events at the First African Baptist Church in Tuscaloosa.

    About 20 years ago, the veteran foot soldiers created the Bloody Tuesday Committee to remember and commemorate the events of ‘Bloody Tuesday’. Sunday’s program honored the 60th anniversary of the violent attack on the church and the movement in Tuscaloosa. It honored twenty surviving foot soldiers, who stood at the church to be recognized as part of the program. Many were teenagers and young people sixty years ago on ‘Bloody Sunday ‘. The leaders of the movement including Rev. T. Y. Rogers, Rev. Linton and others have already passed on.

    The program at the church featured singing of church and freedom songs, led by the church choir and joined by the full congregation. There was a liturgical dance by the Friendship Baptist Church Praise Team. Young ladies with Black t-shirts and white skirts performed the dance. Their shirts each had a single word, related to the freedom struggle: Stand Up, Oppression, Equality, Overcome, Injustice, Freedom, Resilience and Peace. The dancers received a standing ovation at the end of their presentation.

    Tiedre Owens, Tuscaloosa staff member for Congresswoman Terri Sewell, made remarks supporting the foot soldiers and the work of the Tuscaloosa Bloody Tuesday Committee. She showed a video of Congresswoman Sewell making remarks on the floor of the U. S. House of Representatives on last Friday, about the events of ‘Bloody Tuesday’ to insure they were inscribed in the Congressional Record.

    Walt Maddox, Mayor of Tuscaloosa, made remarks, saying ‘Bloody Tuesday’ helped change the city for the better and contributed to making the nation a ‘more perfect union’. He said, “We cannot wash away the sins of the past. We must remember the past and have a stronger resolve to change the conditions of injustice that remain.”

    Irene Byrd presented a tribute to the foot soldiers of ‘Bloody Tuesday’, who were asked to stand. “We have no tangible gifts for you today only our thanks and gratitude for what you did for us that day,” said Byrd.

    Rev. Ramsey O’Daniel, Pastor of Christ Baptist Church in Tuscaloosa was the guest speaker. He spoke on the theme for the occasion, ‘where do we go from here’. First, we need to vote in all elections and use our vote to elect people who will make policy changes to support our interests. Second, we must develop a direct-action economic development plan in the Black community, as part of a local and national effort. We must execute this plan. Third, we must run back to Jesus, instead of running away from Jesus, because Jesus is our friend.

    The program ended with about half the people gathered there, re-enacting the four block march to the Tuscaloosa County Courthouse, on Greensboro Avenue. This time, the march was escorted by Tuscaloosa Police and Sheriff’s deputies to accent the difference that sixty years of change and progress makes.

    At the Courthouse rally, leaders of the Bloody Tuesday Committee made remarks. Tuscaloosa County Sheriff Ron Abernathy gave words of reconciliation, saying, “I was one year old on Bloody Tuesday. I have a hard time relating to the laws and policies of the past. We must learn from the past so we can do better in the present and the future.” Some members of the Committee, were looking for a formal apology from the Sheriff and other political officials, but Abernathy’s statement was the closest they heard to an official apology.

    The crowd marched back to the church for a reception and book signing by University of Alabama history professor, Dr. John M. Giggie, of his newly published book entitled “Bloody Tuesday- The untold story of the struggle for civil rights in Tuscaloosa”. This book is the result of research and interviewing survivors of Bloody Tuesday, including many foot soldiers, police and Klansmen over the past ten years.