I’m pretty excited about something – wanna guess? No, it’s not the legislative session ending (though it did get pretty rough there at the end).
It’s math! I’m excited about math! In particular, I’m excited about Jefferson County Schools’ effort to put building-based math coaches in their middle schools. It sounds wonky – but as an education reporter who loves to dig in and find what is working to improve achievement, this is the kind of story I love to write.
Detroit Lions running back Jahmyr Gibbs had a rare rookie season in 2023, and the NFL team’s general manager expects the former Alabama standout to get more chances to build on his first-season success in 2024.
Last year, the Lions traded up to select Gibbs at No. 12 in the NFL Draft and not only ended up in the playoffs for the first time since 2016 but in the NFC Championship Game for the first time since 1991.
Detroit divided its backfield duties between Gibbs and David Montgomery. Gibbs ran for 945 yards and 10 touchdowns on 182 carries and caught 52 passes for 316 yards and one touchdown in 15 regular-season games. Montgomery ran for 1,015 yards and 13 touchdowns on 219 carries and caught 16 passes for 117 yards in 14 regular-season games.
“I definitely would expect him to see more of a load,” Lions general manager Brad Holmes said about the Year 2 plans for Gibbs during a Monday appearance on “The Rich Eisen Show.” “But David Montgomery will still be here, too, and Dan and I love that one-two punch of him and David.
“But just speaking on him specifically, him being a rookie last year, even when he kind of had some pops in that K.C. game in the opener, I was watching, I was like, ‘He’s still trying to get the feel of the game.’ He was playing very fast. He actually kind of needed to slow down a little bit, and he openly admitted that, like ‘I just had to slow it down a little bit. I was going too fast,’ which he was. But once he got that sweet spot, and it was about right right there. You kind of saw it a little bit in the Ravens game, which unfortunately we didn’t show up very well for that game. But definitely started seeing some glimpses of ‘I think it’s coming. I think it’s coming.’ Then, obviously, that Raiders game, where I believe everybody would say it was the breakout.
“I think that’s when you kind of saw the game is slowing down for him and now you’re seeing exactly what you saw at Alabama. But I think he’s got much more to offer in the passing game, so most likely you’ll see an increase in that as well.”
In Detroit’s 26-14 victory over the Las Vegas Raiders on Oct. 30, Gibbs ran for 152 yards and one touchdown on 26 carries and caught five passes for 37 yards with Montgomery sidelined by an injury.
Gibbs became the 11th rookie in NFL history to compile at least 945 rushing yards and 10 rushing touchdowns while averaging more than 5 yards per carry. Gibbs joined Saquon Barkley as the only players among the 11 who also had at least 52 receptions in their rookie seasons.
After that PFWA All-Rookie team performance, Gibbs became the eighth rookie in NFL history with at least 144 rushing yards and three rushing touchdowns in the postseason. And he’s the only one in that group who also had 11 or more receptions.
In 2023, Gibbs and Houston Texans defensive end Will Anderson Jr. pushed to nine the number of former Alabama players who have gone to the Pro Bowl or similar all-star events as rookies. They followed Joe Namath, Derrick Thomas, Eddie Lacy, C.J. Mosley, Amari Cooper, Najee Harris and Mac Jones.
FOR MORE OF AL.COM’S COVERAGE OF THE NFL, GO TO OUR NFL PAGE
Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.
Major League Baseball has a perfect opportunity to help right a wrong.
Artie Wilson, one of the greatest baseball players in the history of Alabama, isn’t in the National Baseball Hall of Fame and it feels like a major oversight. Why is it so important that Major League Baseball is coming to Birmingham, Alabama, to honor the Negro Leagues? One of the reasons is because forgotten players like Wilson deserve to be properly recognized for contributions to the history of the game.
Wilson’s story has been lost to time and it’s been an ongoing crusade of mine to help him reach Cooperstown. There isn’t a single player in the National Baseball Hall of Fame who’s primary team is the Birmingham Black Barons. Wilson should be the one.
Most baseball fans have never heard of Artie Wilson and that’s a shame. During the 1940s, he was the best shortstop in the Negro Leagues. Wilson played for the Birmingham Black Barons from 1942 to 1948. Wilson’s career batting average with the Barons of .374 soars above the game. Ty Cobb, credited with the highest career average in baseball history, hit .366.
Wilson’s career batting average in the Big Leagues is .367. After his prime years with the Black Barons, Wilson played sparingly during part of one season for the New York Giants, but he never truly received an opportunity to break through in MLB.
But it’s not Artie’s fault that America was a segregated country during his playing days. Put Artie in the Hall.
Major League Baseball is descending upon Birmingham this summer. The St. Louis Cardinals and San Francisco Giants are playing at Rickwood Field on June 20. For baseball, it’s going to be the signature moment of the season. Outside of Talladega, it’s arguably the biggest professional sporting event in the state of Alabama since the 1948 Negro League World Series. This is the perfect time for Major League Baseball to amplify Artie’s story and give him proper recognition all these years later.
We haven’t talked enough about Birmingham’s Industrial Leagues leading up to MLB at Rickwood: A Tribute to the Negro Leagues. A hundred years ago, factories and mills in Birmingham had semi-pro baseball teams. There were dozens around town and they all served as a feeder system for the Negro Leagues. Willie Mays, Sr., played in the Industrial Leagues with Piper Davis, the future manager of the Birmingham Black Barons. It was Davis who gave 17-year-old Willie Mays, Jr., his big break in 1948.
But Mays wasn’t the star of that famed Black Barons team that played in the final Negro League World Series. The superstar back then was Wilson.
Let the record show that Ted Williams was not the last Major League Baseball player to hit over .400 in a season. Wilson hit .433 in 1948 for the Birmingham Black Barons.
And yet he’s not in Cooperstown.
It’s a high crime of American sporting history that Arthur Lee Wilson of Springville, Alabama, isn’t in the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
Stunningly, Wilson isn’t even in the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame. It just goes to show how the Negro Leageus have been lost to time and how the selective preservation of American history is obscured by the complicated legacy of racial discrimination.
An opposite-field hitter, Wilson hit left and threw right. He had a career batting average of .438 in the Industrial Leagues before signing with the Black Barons in 1943. He’s now recognized as the Negro Leagues rookie of the year for that season. Wilson was a seven-time All-Star in Negro Leagues, and back then being selected as an All-Star was the highest honor in the game.
Hall of Famer Monte Irvin called Wilson a superstar before the term was invented.
Most amazingly, Wilson had a Hall of Fame-worthy career despite losing part of his thumb in a factory accident when he was 19 years old. He still hit .398 in the Industrial League that season.
Wilson played for ACIPCO, or American Cast Iron and Pipe Company. ACIPCO was the New York Yankees of the Industrial League.
Wilson hit .559 in his final season for ACIPCO.
Jackie Robinson broke baseball’s color barrier in 1947. After the 1948 season, it seemed like Wilson was headed for Major League Baseball. The Cleveland Indians wanted Wilson badly but a contract dispute with the Yankees kept Wilson in the minor leagues. After winning the batting title in the Pacific Coast League, Wilson played with the New York Giants for part of the 1951 season. He was then 30 years old, and was never given a real chance. He was optioned back to the minors when his former Black Barons teammate, Willie Mays, was called up.
There was an unspoken quota at the time in Major League Baseball. The Giants could only have four black players and Wilson made five.
Wilson’s greatest years were in Birmingham, and it is as a Birmingham Black Baron he should be in the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
SOUND OFF
Got a question for Joe? Want to get something off your chest? Send Joe an email about what’s on your mind for the mailbag. Let your voice be heard. Ask him anything.
Nineties nostalgia is real, y’all. It’s hard to believe three decades separate now and then, but that era’s music remains timeliness through a symphony of genres, classic albums and even one-hit wonders we’ll never forget in this or any lifetime.
Rock, rap, grunge, pop, punk, R&B — you name it, you’ll see and hear it live in Alabama in 2024, and from some of the decade’s all-time greatest bands.
You can catch them in large amphitheaters, intimate venues and brand new music festivals, where you can create new memories to match those you made 30-plus years ago thanks to these amazing artists.
Travel back into the not-so-distant past with the Alabama shows listed below. (Warning: Some of the videos below contain profanity.)
Better Than Ezra
Who: The Baton Rouge-formed band (based in New Orleans) consisting of Kevin Griffin, Tom Drummond, Michael Jerome and James Arthur Payne Jr. has a large following thanks to nine studio releases, including 2024′s “Super Magick.” Their 1995 single “Good,” which reached No. 1 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart, remains their biggest overall hit.
Who: Formed in Richmond, Va., this heavy metal band is known for wearing highly elaborate costumes steeped in science fiction/fantasy/mythology. Gwar enjoyed mainstream success in the 1990s thanks to albums like “Scumdogs of the Universe,” “America Must Be Destroyed,” “This Toilet Earth” and “Ragnarök.” You may also have seen them on a “Beavis & Butthead” episode or two.
Who: The late ‘90s sensation whose 1998 album “Devil without a Cause” spawned hits like “Bawitdaba,” “Cowboy” and “Only God Knows Why” will headline the Rock the Country Festival in Mobile this summer. Also performing on night one: Big & Rich, Uncle Kracker, Gavin Adcock.
When: June 21
Where: Rock the Country Festival, The Grounds, Mobile
Who: The Indiana-born R&B star has written and produced a long list of No. 1 hits, earning 12 Grammy Award wins in the process. Along with performing his own songs, Babyface has worked with superstars like Michael Jackson, Aretha Franklin, Bobby Brown, TLC, Usher, Toni Braxton, Whitney Houston, Madonna and many others.
When: July 13
Where: Wind Creek Casino & Hotel Atmore (WCA) Amphitheater
Who: Led by Darius Rucker and formed in Columbia, South Carolina, the band skyrocketed to mainstream success with the 1994 album “Cracked Rear View.” It became one of the all-time bestselling albums in U.S. history, with hits like “Hold My Hand,” “Let Her Cry” and “Only Wanna Be with You.”
Who: Formed in San Francisco in 1993 and featuring Stephan Jenkins, Kevin Cadogan, Arion Salazer and Brad Hargreaves, the band released a self-titled album in 1997 and later the 1999 follow-up “Blue.” Hits include “Semi-Charmed Life,” “Jumper,” “How’s It Going to Be” and “Never Let You Go.”
Who: The nu metal band from Jacksonville, Florida, fronted by Fred Durst rose from the underground scene during the late ‘90s, finding success with albums “Three Dollar Bill, Y’all” and “Significant Other.” Notable singles include “Break Stuff,” “Nookie,” “Rollin’ (Air Raid Vehicle),” “My Way” and “Eat You Alive.”
Who: Singer Scott Stapp has returned to the fold, teaming with guitarist Mark Tremonti, bassist Brian Marshall and drummer Scott Phillips. They’re the players featured on the band’s 1997 breakthrough album, “My Own Prison,” and the lineup that lasted through most of Creed’s high-profile career. Creed’s “Summer of ‘99 Tour,” the band’s first tour since 2012, will include 40 shows scheduled mid-July through late September. The band released three multi-platinum albums during its heyday in 1997-2001 — “My Own Prison,” “Human Clay” and “Weathered” — and dominated mainstream radio stations with singles such as “Higher,” “One,” “My Sacrifice,” “With Arms Wide Open” and “My Own Prison.” (Stapp is performing a solo gig at the Sand Mountain Amphitheater in Albertville June 28.)
Who: Last year, the New Orleans-born rapper celebrated 25 years since the release of his hit album, “400 Degreez..” It went 4-times platinum when it was released in 1998, with hit songs like “Ha” and “Back That Azz Up.” The rapper is also known for other popular songs like “Slow Motion,” “Project Chick” and “Hot Boys” featuring Lil’ Wayne, B.G., Turk, and Big Tymers.
Who: The rock outfit from Omaha will head to Albertville in late summer, with special guests AWOLNATION and Neon Trees. Formed in 1988, the band has 13 studio albums, including the 1995 triple-platinum self-titled record featuring the mainstream hit “Down,” which topped Billboard’s Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart.
Who: The quirky rockers from El Sobrante, Calif., made their studio album debut with “Frizzle Fry” in 1990, followed by “Sailing the Seas of Cheese” the next year, which included their first charting single “Jerry Was a Racer Car Driver.” Their next two albums, “Pork Soda” (1993) and “Tales from the Punchbowl” (1995) both cracked the top 10 on the Billboard 200. Other hits include “My Name is Mud” and “Wynona’s Big Brown Beaver.” The show here includes special guest Puddles Pity Party.
Who: Live, led by Ed Kowalczyk, and Stone Temple Pilots, now fronted by Jeff Gutt, will perform as part of a 19-city “Jubilee Tour” in honor of “Throwing Copper,” Live’s No. 1 record from 1994, and “Purple,” a chart-topper for STP that same year. Another ‘90s favorite, Soul Asylum, will serve as the opening act on the tour. Live has nine studio albums to its credit, since 1989, best known for hit singles like “Lightning Crashes” and “I Alone.” Stone Temple Pilots have eight studio albums to their credit since 1992, and hits such as “Plush,” “Creep,” “Vasoline,” “Interstate Love Song,” “Big Empty,” “Big Bang Baby” and “Trippin’ on a Hole in a Paper Heart.”
Who: The Gainesville-formed group has four dates scheduled for Alabama in 2024, but we’re singling out the Birmingham stop at Avondale. Sister Hazel’s self-titled studio album debut was released in 1994, followed by “… Somewhere More Familiar” in 1997. The band is best known for the 1997 song “All for You.”
South Star Festival featuring Beck, Big Boi, Blink 182, Gwen Stefani, TLC
Who: This inaugural Huntsville festival is loaded with talent in an impressive first-year lineup boasting music legends, many who found fame during the ‘90s. On Friday, you can see Gwen Stefani, Shinedown, Jane’s Addiction, Jimmy Eat World, TLC, Juvenile, Gin Blossoms, Candlebox, Dexter and the Moonrocks, and Winona Fighter. The Saturday lineup: Blink-182, Beck, Sublime, Goo Goo Dolls, Ludacris, Big Boi, Pete Yorn, Vanessa Carlton, Bully, Billy Allen + The Pollies.
Who:Everclear will tour with Marcy Playground this fall, and the band’s founder Art Alexakis promises a set list filled with hits. The tour will celebrate the 25th anniversary of Everclear’s “Songs from an American Movie Vol. One: Learning How to Smile.” The platinum-selling album peaked at No. 9 on the Billboard 200 chart. The band came to fame with albums such as 1995′s “Sparkle and Fade” and 1997′s “So Much for the Afterglow,” and produced hit singles such as “Everything to Everyone,” “Santa Monica,” “Heroin Girl,” “I Will Buy You a New Life” and “Wonderful.”
When: Oct. 24 & 25
Where: Workplay in Birmingham (Oct. 24), The Plant in Dothan (Oct. 25)
Tickets: General admission in Birmingham starts at $44.50. Dothan tickets start at $45.88.
President Joe Biden said Wednesday on social media that he won’t participate in the campaign debates sponsored by a nonpartisan commission, instead challenging Republican Donald Trump to a pair of debates.
“Donald Trump lost two debates to me in 2020,” Biden posted on X, the site formerly known as Twitter. “Since then, he hasn’t shown up for a debate. Now he’s acting like he wants to debate me again. Well, make my day, pal.”
The Democrat suggested that the two candidates could pick some dates, taking a dig at Trump’s ongoing hush money trial by noting that the Republican is “free on Wednesdays,” the usual day off in the trial.
In addition to the post, Biden campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon sent a letter to the Commission on Presidential Debates to say that Biden would not participate in its announced debates, choosing instead to participate in debates hosted by news organizations.
Trump has repeatedly dared Biden to debate him, keeping a second podium open at rallies and claiming that his rival would not be up for the task.
Uncommon Goods has the perfect present for your college graduate.
The online retailer known for its unique finds has College Football Stadium Sculpture Candles for $49. Each of the candles has an officially licensed laser-cut wooden replica featuring up to four layers of detail, creating a bird’s-eye view of a specific football field, seating section and more.
Stadiums from several major colleges are featured on their own candles, including the University of Alabama’s Bryant-Denny Stadium and Auburn University’s Jordan-Hare Stadium. Other options include Florida State University, University of Florida, LSU, Michigan State University, University of Michigan, Ohio State University, University of Oklahoma and University of Tennessee.
The coconut-soy vegan wax candles are infused with the “Tailgates and Touchdowns” scent that evokes memories of fresh-cut grass, a pre-game grill and crisp autumn air. Every label includes the stadium’s name, team logo and school location.
Joe Elliott is taking a stand against online impersonators by someone online and he’s had the final straw.
The Def Leppard lead singer posted a video after he found out that fans were scammed out of money by someone pretending to be him.
“A friend of mine just emailed me with another one of these ‘have you seen this one’ fake Joe Elliott emails, where somebody has successfully scammed money out of some of our fans,” Elliott said.
“It’s been going on for a while. We do everything we can to block these things. But this is really starting to piss me off now because they’re actually getting money out of folk,” he continues.
The singer was in the midst of a recording session when he posted the video, but he made it clear he doesn’t want or need money from fans.
“I don’t need your money, okay? I would never, ever ask you for money because my wife’s divorcing me or my leg fell off or I need a glass eye. It’s complete and utter horseshit. Anyone who sends you an email claiming that they’re me or they’re gonna take you on a date or… I don’t know, my house fell over, it’s not true!
“Don’t fall for this awful, awful thing that’s going on here,” he warned. ‘There’s hundreds of people been scammed by, supposedly, dozens and dozens of artists.”
Mark Heim is a reporter for The Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Mark_Heim. He can be heard on “The Opening Kickoff” on WNSP-FM 105.5 FM in Mobile or on the free Sound of Mobile App from 6 to 9 a.m. daily.
Six years ago, an Alabama photographer’s photos of a rare yellow cardinal captivated the nation on numerous national news outlets after being first reported on AL.com.
Photographer Jeremy Black, who captured the trademark images of “Mr. Yellow” in 2018, said a Helena resident contacted him last week reporting a yellow cardinal sighting in her backyard.
Black visited the house and within a few days had taken several images of the new yellow cardinal, which appears to be a different bird with the same genetic mutation as Mr. Yellow.
“We saw it for just a few seconds [the first day], just enough to confirm that it is a northern cardinal with yellow plumage,” Black said. “Since that time, it has been pretty much visiting on a daily basis.”
Black photographed Mr. Yellow in Alabaster in 2018. The new sighting occurred about 15 miles away, in Helena.
The homeowner who first spotted the new yellow cardinal requested that her identity not be disclosed in this story to protect the bird, and her property, from unwanted attention.
After the 2018 yellow cardinal story, the neighborhood where the bird was spotted was beset by hundreds of people, causing issues for nearby residents.
But the homeowner said she did want to see her town of Helena recognized for having such a rare find.
“To me, he’s such a rare bird, so beautiful,” she told AL.com. “I want the town of Helena to get the recognition and to be mentioned online with Alabaster, Texas, Louisiana and all these sightings of other yellow cardinals.”
She said her husband named the bird Maize after they decided it needed a more masculine name.
“We felt like we needed to stay with the yellow theme somehow,” she said. “Buttercup was too feminine. He’s a male, so we wanted a handsome name and my husband came up with Maize and it stuck.”
The homeowner said she first saw the bird while eating lunch and her home and recognized it immediately.
Mr. Yellow, a male northern cardinal with a rare genetic mutation that causes his feathers to be yellow instead of red caused a sensation when he was photographed in Alabaster, Ala. in 2018.Jeremy Black Photography
“I knew exactly what it was because I had recalled the yellow cardinal in Alabaster some years ago,” she said.
Then she contacted Black, who helped confirm the identification and get more photos to document the sighting.
Geoffrey Hill, an Auburn University ornithologist who has done extensive research on bird colorations, said Maize could be related to Mr. Yellow from 2018, but there was no way to know for sure.
He believes the genetic mutation may simply be more common in this area.
“It’s probably not unrelated, or a coincidence,” Hill told AL.com. “It probably is the same mutation that exists in that region, in that population, maybe at a higher level than it does in some other cardinal populations.”
Hill said the mutation that causes the unusual coloration seen in Mr. Yellow, and now in Maize, is likely the result of two recessive genetic traits, and that the condition may only manifest in offspring that have two parents carrying the same recessive gene.
“There’s this rare mutation that’s recessive,” Hill said. “So if there’s only one copy, it doesn’t show up.
“But because it’s in that population at a pretty high level, you’re getting two copies matched once in a while and that’s the bird that has the yellow.”
In June 2018, Mr. Yellow appeared to be a father. Black photographed the bird and a female cardinal caring for a nest with two hatchlings in it.
Mr. Yellow, a cardinal with a rare genetic mutation spotted in central Alabama in 2018 and 2019, sits watch over two baby birds that are possibly his offspring.Jeremy Black Photography
However, the hatchlings left the nest before it could be determined whether they also carried the genetic mutation.
As for Maize, the homeowner said she hopes he will stick around for a while. She said she enjoys watching all kinds of birds in her backyard, but this one is just a bit more special.
“All these other species that we have in our backyard are just as equally beautiful,” she said. “We love watching all of them.
“But he just shines, he just popped out. He was a stud.”
The Alabama High School Athletic Association softball and baseball tournaments are in full swing in Oxford and Jacksonville with champions being crowned in Class 7A softball, Class 5A and Class 3A baseball.
Defending 7A softball champ Hewitt-Trussville escaped with an extra-inning 1-0 win in a classic game against a tough Daphne team. Both pitchers – Mississippi State signee Sara Phillips of Hewitt and University of Alabama commitment Vic Moten of Daphne – were dazzling on the mound, combining for 23 strikeouts. Daphne had battled through the elimination bracket with big wins over Central-Phenix City and Hoover before facing the Huskies for the crown.
Class 3A Thomasville won its fourth championship, but first in the 21st Century with a two-game sweep of Westbrook Christian at Jim Case Stadium on the campus of Jacksonville State University. The Tigers, who had titles in 1972, 1988 and 1989, beat the Warriors 13-3 and 8-7. Westbrook’s lone championship came in 2021.
Alexandria won its second straight game over Mobile Christian to claim the Class 5A championship. It is the Valley Cubs’ first baseball championship.
DaQuan Washington, a tenth grader at George Washington Carver, is like any other teen. He likes watching video game streamers and doing TikTok dances with his friends.
He regularly posts videos about sneakers on his YouTube channel where he promotes some of his favorite brands. In his latest video, he sits in his room, excitedly reviewing graphic tees he received in the mail.
But Washington has other things on his mind, too. Things that he doesn’t always want to talk about in his social spaces. How he feels about growing up without his father, who died 2 months before he was born. Common Ground, a City of Birmingham initiative to curb violence, gives him a space to express and process emotions with other students.
“It’s like more of a brotherhood. They bring everybody together,” Washington said. “It calms my nerves to get stuff off my chest because we basically talk about important things that other people don’t normally talk about. We’re comfortable enough to say it to each other.”
Since January 2022, 14 Birmingham City School students have been killed from gun violence, many of them killed by other teenagers. Gun violence is the leading cause of death among Alabama’s youth.
In 2023, the City of Birmingham awarded the Common Ground program a $1 million grant to teach conflict resolution curriculum in an effort to curb violence among youth. That same year, the number of Birmingham children who died from gun violence decreased to eight.
Since the implementation of the program, fights among participating students are down and program organizers say they have watched once at-risk students become leaders.
“I have seen a drastic change in several of our kids as far as how many fights they’re in at the beginning versus now,” Cecilia Phillips, a counselor at George Washington Carver High School, said. “It’s tailored for the gun violence, it’s tailored for kids having to live in public housing, it’s tailored for the single parent child, growing up without a mom or without a dad.”
What is Birmingham’s Common Ground program?
Common Ground is a City of Birmingham initiative created to curb violence which includes initiatives like the Hospital-linked Violence Intervention Program, the RESTORE project and the curricula that is helping Washington and other students process their emotions.
The program consists of three curricula: HEAT, for young men; HER, for young women; and Excel, a co-ed curriculum for elementary students.
The curricula are brought to students through a partnership with Birmingham Municipal Court, the Department of Youth Services, Birmingham City Schools and community coaches.
Andra Sparks, the city’s presiding municipal judge, said that after seeing how violence was affecting the youth around him, he wanted to try conflict resolution curricula in schools.
The HEAT curriculum began as a court substance use diversion program that places emphasis on the experiences of Black men.
“We started realizing that the themes in the program might lend themselves to violence reduction,” Sparks said. “We started using it in a different way and that was with young guys who were prone to violence, were living in a dangerous environment. What we found when we started sending these young guys to the program is that none of them wanted to go. Who would? But when they finished, they all loved it because a camaraderie was created.”
Then Sparks got to work talking to school administrators and local government to expand the curriculum beyond the courts.
The court asked counselors to identify students they knew were struggling with their grades, have a record of family issues or struggle with their mental health.
In 2021, the 26 week long Common Ground program was piloted at George Washington Carver High School and later expanded after seeing success among participating students.
Today, the court has certified more than 200 Common Ground coaches and there are more than 500 students participating in the program.
The HEAT and HER curricula are used in every Birmingham high school, middle school and K-8 school. Excel is being piloted in Wylam Elementary School and Huffman Academy.
The Excel curriculum will expand to every Birmingham elementary school in 2025 but the program will need more volunteer coaches.
“The kids we put in the program, that make it through, their absenteeism goes down, their negative behaviors go down. Because we’re talking to them. We’re engaging with them. Their grades are going to improve,” Sparks said.
Among the female students in the Fall 2023 Common Ground cohort, fights have decreased from 11 to 5. Suspensions decreased from 34 to 15. Disciplinary actions decreased from 76 to 40. And absences decreased from 315 to 134.
Among the male students, fights decreased from 24 to 4. Suspensions decreased from 50 to 20. Disciplinary actions decreased from 107 to 47. And absences decreased from 452 to 197.
Among the elementary students, fights decreased from 8 to 3. Suspensions decreased from 5 to 2. Disciplinary actions decreased from 36 to 5. And absences decreased from 78 to 19.
“This is changing lives,” Sparks said.
Coaching students
Monique Johnson, a Common Ground coach at Huffman Middle School and Inglenook Pre K-8, said the program has shown the young women she mentors that they have someone that cares for them.
“In our sessions, we talk about things like Black womanhood, what our trauma may look like or what trauma is, because a lot of times what we see in our community becomes so normal, and we become so numb to it. We don’t realize that it is trauma and that we’re being traumatized. So we help our girls to identify things like that. We talk about family, emotional wounds, forgiveness and how to maintain healthy relationships,” Johnson said.
She said the Common Ground program has created mutual respect among students who once fought with one another.
“Our goal is to teach conflict resolution in an effort to reduce crime and reduce the children making poor decisions that ultimately could lead to crime. With conflict resolution, it’s all about giving them techniques and empowering them to be able to manage their disagreements constructively by promoting greater empathy and communication skills,” Johnson said.
Johnson grew up in the same neighborhood and experienced the same struggles as many of the young women she is coaching. She said sharing her own experiences helped her to build trust with her students.
“When we see the violence on the news, and we see the horrible reports of shootings and murders it really wrenches our hearts. I want our students to know that they are seen and loved,” Johnson said.
“I’ve absolutely had some young ladies tell me that they appreciate the fact that we care. They have absolutely said that they’ve created better relationships at school and at home, whether it’s with their siblings, or with their parents. Those are the things that let us know that this program is working.”
Eric Jones, a Common Ground coach at Bush Hills Academy and Hayes Middle School, said the program works because it helps heal the trauma that causes an ongoing cycle of violence.
“I know for the boys that we have at Bush Hill Academy, we had some guys before we got started, they would always get in trouble for fighting and fussing. Those numbers actually went down drastically because we talked about things like making good decisions, thinking before you react. We gave them options, exposed them to different strategies to deal with their problems,” Jones said.
During one session, the boys, even those whose fathers are not in their lives, wrote letters to their fathers expressing feelings.
Sparks said he thinks the Common Ground program is working because it introduces students to adults who care about them.
“They come in and they talk to students. They listen to them. They give them guidance on the issues of life. These kids need that,” Sparks said. “We have to talk to kids and find out where they are. Some of them don’t even know how to dream because no one has talked to them about what they can be. They’re forced to believe that they are stuck where they are.”
LaTonya Tate, City of Birmingham councilor and chairwoman of public safety, said the program works because it takes a mental health approach to violence prevention.
“It’s a public health approach…You have to attack the root issues, the trauma so healing can take place. That mental health piece is very important,” Tate said.
“The program is working well. The kids are very excited about it,” Tate said. “The parents of the boys told us about how their child looks forward to going to the HEAT program when the coaches come to the school. They’ve seen a significant change in him and his grades. And so that’s just a testament that the program is working in a positive way.”
Student experience
Washington said the best part of the Common Ground program are the bonds he’s formed with his coaches and the other young men.
“We learn about things in the community, how to take care of the community. We learn about health issues, social issues…One of the topics that we really learn about that I pay attention to a lot are the family topics,” Washington said. “A lot of people don’t grow up with two parents. We talk about how to live with only one [parent], just a mother or just a father. I grew up without my father.”
Multiple juvenile homicides have taken place in Birmingham’s Ensley community, where Washington lives.
“I’m from Ensley and that’s a dangerous place in Birmingham,” Washington said. “In the HEAT program, it’s been people that have lost their people to gun violence…We talk about what decisions they might have made and what decisions we can make.”
Experts say areas that lack the resources community members need to succeed such as community support systems and social service often experience higher rates of violence.
Nichole Davis-Williams, principal at Jackson-Olin High School, sits in her office Dec. 5, 2023 as she remembers the students lost to gun violence. She is working with administrators and the Birmingham City School board to protect students from violence. Alaina Bookman/AL.comAlaina Bookman
Nichole Davis-Williams, the principal at Jackson Olin High School, said there are many houses in Ensley that are falling apart.
“A lot of times these students’ attitudes start with their living conditions,” Williams said in a December 2023 interview. “We don’t know what these children are dealing with before they get to us. But if the roof is leaking everytime it rains, it’s cold, they have no heat, the windows are boarded up, how can we expect them to not be angry, to not be upset.”
Phillips said teachers tell her about the improvements their students have made from being more engaged to having a calmer demeanor.
At the end of the program, students must complete a community project. Last year, the Carver students spent two weeks planting flowers outside of the school.
Phillips said this was many of the boys’ first time gardening and some said it was calming to be outside.
“As counselor, my goal for the kids is to benefit from the Common Ground program and to make sure that they know that everything doesn’t have to resort to a fight, or a gun or be negative. You can think and talk your way out of almost anything if you’re equipped to do that,” Phillips said.
This summer, the court will also provide a Common Summer program to keep students engaged year round.
“I think the community should all come together. We need each other. Stop the gun violence because it’s getting crazy out in the real world. People are scared to go anywhere now-a-days,” Washington said.
“It really helps the kids come together…because the people that’s in HEAT are mostly the people that are dying outside in the real world. That’s what we talk about. It’s mostly us dying. We’re always arguing with each other. The HEAT program makes us come together.”
This story was supported by a grant from the Solutions Journalism Network. Alaina Bookman’s violence prevention reporting at AL.com is supported by grants and individual donations. Give a tax-deductible contribution today.
