Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin said he has a story to share with the city and beyond. So, he wrote a book.

Woodfin took to social media today to announce his forthcoming book, “Son of Birmingham.”

“Son of Birmingham is not just my story — it’s the story of us,” Woodfin wrote on social media. “It’s about how gun violence has touched American families, including my own family, and how we’re fighting it right now in our communities.”

Woodfin said his book recalls several challenges of his eight years in the mayor’s office.

“It’s about leadership during tough times, like COVID. It’s about how Birmingham’s legacy of activism helped eradicate racist monuments in the modern day and how that spirit for change will be crucial for Birmingham — our entire nation — in 2025 and beyond.” Woodfin authored the book with Edward T. Bowser, a longtime writer, who is also Woodfin’s deputy director of communications.

Birmingham city elections are in August 2025. Woodfin, who is in his second term as mayor, previously said he believed in term limits, but reversed course several months ago and said he would seek a third term.

The book is set to be released Jan. 21.

While the mayor is excited to present his memoir, longtime Birmingham activist Kamau Afrika, questioned the timing of the project. Afrika called the book premature because Woodfin’s story and legacy remain incomplete.

“I know that no mayor can prevent the domestic violence that we have had in this city or anywhere else. But at the same token you can’t have runaway imbalanced corporate welfare where things are neglected,” said Afrika, who is mulling a run for mayor himself. “For example, I have to go all the way to Bessemer to attend a fully equipped athletic complex.”

Afrika noted significant unmet needs, such as a high violent crime rate and lingering poverty that continue to plague the city.

Birmingham has experienced one of its deadliest years with 144 killings so far with a month left in the year.

The bloodshed brings the city’s death count that equals the deadliest year in recent memory, which was in 2022.

Birmingham’s all-time record for homicides was in 1933 with 148 killings.

Afrika noted a quote from former Detroit Mayor Coleman Young.

“’Crime is the ultimate manifestation of economic exploitation,’” Afrika said. “You have to ask, why do we have the crime rate that we have?

“This is why we must have a change in the behavior and direction of the current administration. I was all for a younger generation going into city hall, but the direction has to change.”