This is an opinion column.

Imagine. You’re charged with creating an entity paying homage to the civil rights movement — the movement that changed America — on the very grounds where its seeds were sown, where its harshest sacrifices were made. On the Birmingham blocks encircling what was once known as Central Park. That is, before it was renamed in 1988 for Charles Linn, an immigrant sea captain for the Confederacy and, later, founder of the city’s first bank.

Imagine. On the blocks where America saw its evil core. Where Bull Connor turned fire hoses on Black teenagers marching for the right to shop and work in local stores. On the grounds of 16th Street Baptist Church, where the Ku Klux Klan planted a bomb and killed four Black girls in an explosion that also sparked the killing of two Black boys.

Imagine. What would it entail? How would it incorporate today’s tools and technologies with historic and monumental storytelling and imagery? How would that entity become a magnet for truth-seekers from across the nation and the world akin to those civil rights memorials now attracting millions to Montgomery?

Imagine. If ground zero for the movement could be rebuilt — rebooted, really — from the ground up. Today.

That’s the challenge — and opportunity — facing leaders of the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, now 32 years old, as its board embraces a new executive leadership team, shuffles its membership, and honors the stately woman who inspired its creation.

In truth, it’s a challenge and opportunity that rests with the entire city and region.

The newly elected board chair is Rosilyn Houston, retired senior executive vice president and chief of human resources for Santander Bank; the new vice chair is Carlos Alemán, CEO of the Hispanic and Immigrant Center of Alabama (¡HICA!).

And later this month, BCRI will honor Odessa Woolfolk, the Birmingham native whose vision led to its creation. Ahead of her 92nd birthday, Woolfolk, a widely admired educator and longtime (and still very active) civic leader, will receive the 2024 Fred L. Shuttlesworth Human Rights Award.

Houston says Woolfolk, who serves as BCRI’s board chair emerita, “continues to inspire new generations to stand up for justice and equality.”

She exemplifies the very essence of this award,” Houston told me.

The theme of the event — which will take place on Nov. 20 — is “Reimagine the Institute.”

“Not just our edifice, refreshing our galleries and keeping up with the innovation and the digitization in which we now live—but the entire district,” Houston shared with me. “If I built a house in 1930 and built another one in 2024, you’re going to see some differences—significant innovation and creativity. We’re not trying to compete [with the Equal Justice Initiative’s popular historical attractions in Montgomery] but add to them. So, we’ve got to make up ground.”

Houston’s tenure as chair will be short. Because she is already two years into her third term on the institute’s board, her service as chair will expire in September 2025. She will remain, however, as immediate past chair, according to BCRI’s bylaws.

“I’m stepping in as a one-year fire starter,” she said. “The Institute’s voice has been quiet, and we’ve lost connection with our local and corporate communities. ‘Reimagine’ is a new state of opportunity to reimagine our programs and educational opportunities, reengage with the community—especially our Black community—and rebuild bridges with our corporate community and partners.”

The institute has been around since its founding in 1992. Its doors opened to the public a year later.

“I’m going to get in front of all our CEOs and community leaders and remind them who we are and tell the story of who we can be because we’ve got the history, we’ve got the knowledge, and we’ve got the artifacts,” Houston said. “We’re where people come to learn.”

In July, BCRI CEO DeJuana Thompson, citing the urgency of the upcoming elections, returned to Woke Vote, the nonprofit voter education and advocacy organization she founded in 2017. Houston said the Institute will hire a firm to lead its search for a new CEO, starting in January.

“We are looking for someone who is committed, commanding, and credible,” she said. “Someone with a passion and a commitment to Birmingham because this is the epicenter for the movement. You’ve got to be deeply connected to Birmingham, its citizens and to what the movement was, what it is and what it can be. It needs to be someone with experience in the nuances of leading a nonprofit and has local and national relationships in the museum and institute industries; someone with proven fundraising skills who has led nonprofit and for-profit teams in the past and is an effective communicator; someone who knows how to lead a board.”

Isaac Cooper, Houston’s predecessor who led the board for five years, ascended to the position in the wake of the most embarrassing episode in the institute’s history: BCRI’s decision to honor, rescind, then ultimately honor Birmingham native Angela Davis with the 2018 Shuttlesworth Award. The debacle erupted nationally, causing a plethora of board resignations and crippling the Institute’s fundraising efforts.

In February of 2020, William Parker, who was then the president of the Birmingham City Council, publicly revealed that by the end of that fiscal year, the institute, with a $3 million annual budget, could have a $600,000 shortfall due to the loss of its annual Shuttlesworth Award fundraisers in 2018 and 2019.

“By the grace of God, the finances are in a stable condition,” Houston said this week. “We are mindful stewards of our resources, adjusting where needed, and updating processes to exceed best practices for revenue and expense management. We are also seeing a steady increase in foot traffic, and, this year, we have had more visitors since before the COVID-19 pandemic. That’s a strong testament to our importance as a cultural amenity to Birmingham and the state, as well as to the tireless work of our talented staff who support daily operations.”

Reimagining isn’t cheap. As such, BCRI will launch a major capital campaign next year. Likely its largest ever, Houston said.

$40 million? $60 million? $100 million?

“I don’t know the dollars yet,” said Houston, “but it will be a campaign that we will lean into.”

Aiding that effort will be a newly created national advisory council, comprising prior chairs and supportive national leaders in business, education, and other fields.

“We are going to fully leverage that,” Houston said. “We repeatedly hear of the community’s commitment to the success of BCRI and that shared vision will drive us forward as we develop strategies for sustainable revenue growth and launch our future capital campaign. That is a major new opportunity for us.”

A major and necessary opportunity – a mandate – to rethink and revive an aging Birmingham gem and hallowed district at a critical time for our city and nation. Yet again.

An opportunity that for too long seemed unimaginable.

The event commemorating Woolfolk as the 2024 Fred L. Shuttlesworth Human Rights Award winner is open to the public and will take place at BCRI on November 20 from 4:00 to 7:00 PM. Galleries with be open for student docent-led tours and local artists will perform. Tickets ($32) may be purchased at www.bcri.org/event/reimagine or at the BCRI ticket booth.

I was raised by good people who encouraged me to be a good man and surround myself with good people. If I did, they said, good things would happen. I am a member of the National Association of Black Journalists’ Hall of Fame, an Edward R. Murrow Award winner, and a Pulitzer Prize finalist for commentary. My column appears on AL.com, and digital editions of The Birmingham News, Huntsville Times, and Mobile Press-Register. Tell me what you think at [email protected], and follow me at twitter.com/roysj, or on Instagram @roysj.