Sixty years ago, a cultural revolution was taking place in Birmingham.

On April 3, 1963, a group of activists was arrested for attempting to eat at segregated lunch counters. The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, who was helping lead protest efforts against segregation, was arrested on April 14, 2023. On April 16, 1963, he wrote his “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” which became a manifesto for the civil rights movement.

The Greater Birmingham Conven􀆟on & Visitors Bureau on Thursday launched an effort to commemorate the events of 60 years ago, throughout the year.

It has partnered with Georgia Coach Lines, a charter bus rental, to adorn one of its tour motorcoaches with a commemoration of the events of Birmingham in 1963. They hope it will encourage people to visit Birmingham during 2023.

“It starts today, traveling the country,” said Sara Hamlin, vice president of tourism for the Greater Birmingham Convention & Visitors Bureau. “Anyone can rent this motorcoach for a tour anywhere in the country.”

As it travels with church groups, student groups, senior groups or any other group tours, mostly starting from Atlanta, it will be getting the word out for Birmingham, Hamlin said. The message on the bus encourages visitors to “Walk in the Footsteps” of the civil rights activists of 1963. On on side, it features a photograph of the Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth, the Rev. Ralph Abernathy and the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., leaders of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, walking in Birmingham in 1963. On the other, it urges people to “Be in the Moment,” and has a picture of the 16th Street Baptist Church.

“It’s a good testament to the civil rights movement,” said the Rev. Arthur Price, pastor of 16th Street Baptist Church, which was bombed on Sept. 15, 1963, killing four girls. “It’s already made an impact.”

See also: Bishop Calvin Woods recalls lunch counter sit-in arrests of April 3, 1963