A Conversation about Reckoning at Ramsay High School

A Conversation on Reckoning at Ramsay High School, on February 23, 2023 in the school auditorium in Birmingham, featured a conversation between Ramsay graduates, Dr. Marcia Herman-Giddens, author of the memoir Unloose My Heart, and Dr. Richard Walker, the Birmingham physician who was the lone African-American student desegregating the school in 1963.  Herman-Giddens, who graduated in 1959, described her growing up in the Jim Crow South and her participation in the Civil Rights Movement in Birmingham in the 1960s.  Walker spoke of his experiences at the school and its impact on his family life.  The moderator was Chuck Holmes, Executive Director of the Alabama Humanities Alliance. The program was co-sponsored by the Alabama Humanities Alliance, the Beth El Civil Rights Experience, and Klein Arts & Culture, with a book signing organized by Thank You Books.  The program was recorded and may be watched here.

Nell Gottlieb