Kelly Ingram Park, the heart of the Birmingham Civil Rights movement, will continue to serve as a representation of empowerment and progress at the upcoming TEDxKelly Ingram Park event on Sept. 25 at Sidewalk Cinema, organizers said.

“Birmingham is an innovative hub. We have the citizens that are thinking outside the box and they deserve to be recognized globally,” Roosevelt Morgan, the organizer for TEDxKelly Ingram Park, told AL.com.

TED is a non-profit bringing people together to share ideas, spark conversations and deepen understanding through short, powerful presentations, often called ‘TED Talks.’ Their goal is to inspire individuals and communities to take action on ideas through a variety of programs. TEDx events are locally-led and self-organized to highlight community-led work.

“The theme of this TEDx is ‘Pushing the Needle Forward,’ because Birmingham is going forward,” Morgan said. “We’re walking in the right direction and I want to make sure that not only our citizens know that, but that the world knows it.”

Kelly Ingram Park historically served as an assembly spot for protests and demonstrations in the 1960s of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights and the Children’s Crusade. It’s located across the street from both the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute and 16th Street Baptist Church, where 4 little girls were killed by a Klansman’s bomb.

Now, with its emotional connection to history and powerful sculptures depicting the civil rights struggle in Birmingham, the park will continue to push forward big ideas that change the world, Morgan said.

Morgan, who is the vice president of workforce readiness for the Birmingham Society of Human Resource Management, said he wants to give people of all backgrounds the opportunity to share their big ideas.

“This is an event where I want people to learn and grow and even network. I want people to know that bigger things are coming to Birmingham,” Morgan said.

TEDxBirmingham: ‘Changing lives’

TEDx events are organized independently under a free license granted by TED. These events are not controlled by TED. The new TEDx events, including TEDxKelly Ingram Park and TEDxAlabaster, happening August 15, are their own entities and are not organized under TEDxBirmingham.

Matthew Hamilton, co-organizer of TEDxBirmingham from 2014 to 2019, said TEDx events have changed lives.

One TEDxBirmingham event in 2017 featured future Mayor Randall Woodfin in a talk about new and better ways to impact the city before he held the mayoral position. Another event encouraged an attendee to donate his kidney to someone in need.

“Businesses and nonprofits were created at these events because people were sharing ideas,” Hamilton told AL.com. “Our speakers continue to progress, and grow in their own careers and impact the community, Some still say that was driven by TEDx.”

TEDxBirmingham was put on hold because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Hamilton said the speaker series may make a comeback in the future.

“We knew that we had something special here where you’re bringing people from totally different worlds together around ideas focused on improving the community or changing lives,” Hamilton said.

“Magic can happen. With these new events, TEDx Kelly Ingram Park and TEDxAlabaster, that’s what I hope that they’re able to achieve.”

TEDxKelly Ingram Park is still accepting applications for speakers and anyone is welcome to apply. Proposals can be submitted to [email protected] Speakers will be officially chosen at the end of May.