Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson reflects during commemoration service

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson reflects during 16th Street Baptist Church commemoration

COMMEMORATE THIS PIVOTAL EVENT IN AMERICAN HISTORY. OUR TEAM COVERAGE BEGINS TONIGHT WITH �� 13. LISA CRANE YEAH, LISA, THERE WERE A NUMBER OF SPEAKERS STRESSING THE FACT THAT WHILE WE’VE MADE GREAT STRIDES, WE STILL HAVE A LONG WAY TO GO. YEAH, THAT WAS A COMMON THREAD DURING ALL THE SPEECHES WE HEARD TODAY DURING THE 2.5 HOUR SERVICE HERE AT 16TH STREET BAPTIST CHURCH, IT WAS STANDING ROOM ONLY INSIDE AND THEY WERE PROBABLY EVEN MORE PEOPLE OUTSIDE HERE STANDING IN THE STREET WHO HAD HOPED TO GET IN AND GET ONE OF THOSE COVETED SEATS. SEVERAL DIGNITARIES FROM BIRMINGHAM, THE STATE AROUND THE COUNTRY, AND EVEN SOMEONE FROM WALES WHO TRAVELED 4000 MILES TO BE HERE FOR THE SERVICE ALL SPOKE TODAY. THEY TALKED ABOUT HOW THIS ONE HORRIFIC EVENT EXACTLY 60 YEARS AGO PROPELLED THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT AND WAS PIVOTAL, PIVOTAL, RATHER, IN MAKING THE SIGNIFICANT CHANGES WE’VE SEEN SINCE THEN. BUT THERE IS STILL WORK TO BE DONE, AND THEY URGED EVERYONE TO REMAIN VIGILANT. IT KNOWING WHAT WE’VE BEEN THROUGH WILL ONLY EMBOLDEN US TO LIFT EVER HIGHER THE TORCH OF FREEDOM AND FAIRNESS JUST THIS AND EQUALITY. AND JUST AS WE ALWAYS HAVE, WE WILL HONOR THOSE FOUR LITTLE GIRLS AND ALL OF THE HISTORICAL FIGURES WHO HAVE PAID THE ULTIMATE PRICE FOR OUR FREEDOM. NOW. NOW, AS WE SAID EARLIER, THIS TRAGEDY INSPIRED MILLIONS OF ORDINARY AMERICANS TO STEP OFF THE SIDELINES AND JOIN IN THE FIGHT FOR EQUALITY. CONGRESSWOMAN TERRI SEWELL, WHO. ADDRESSED THE CROWD TODAY, SAID WHEN SHE WAS A LITTLE GIRL, SHE LEARNED ABOUT THE TRAGIC BOMBING AND KNEW THAT SHE WANTED TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN THE WORLD, WHICH LED HER TO BECOME THE FIRST BLACK WOMAN TO REPRESENT ALABAMA IN CONGRESS. TODAY, SHE URGED EVERYONE TO FINISH THE JOB. STARTED SO MANY YEARS AGO. LET US REDEDICATE OURSELVES TO PROTECTING AND ADVANCING THE RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS WON BY OUR FOUR MOTHERS AND OUR FOUR FATHERS. THE LEGACY OF THE FOUR LITTLE GIRLS PAVED THE WAY FOR A MORE EQUITABLE AND JUST FUTURE. FOR THAT, WE OWE IT TO THEM TO PICK UP THE BATON AND CARRY IT FORWARD. ALABAMA SENATORS ALSO CALLING FOR MORE WORK TO BE DONE. TOMMY TUBERVILLE POSTED ON SOCIAL MEDIA THAT IN THE 60 YEARS SINCE THE BOMBING, WE’VE MADE INCREDIBLE PROGRESS TO LIVE UP TO OUR IDEALS, BUT ADDED THAT THERE WAS MORE WE ALL CAN DO TO ACHIEVE THAT GOAL. SENATOR KATIE BRITT CITED HER FAITH, HER FAMILY AND HER PATRIOTISM AS REASONS TO DROWN OUT BIGOTRY AND MAKE SURE THAT

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson reflects during 16th Street Baptist Church commemoration

U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson was the keynote speaker Friday during the commemoration service at 16th Street Baptist Church 60 years after the bombing that killed four girls. Jackson spoke about the beauty of Alabama in the fight for civil rights - and why it mattered that this was the first time she had been here and "why now."She discussed knowledge - and why oppressors of all kinds know that truth is powerful."We can only know where we are and where we're going if we realize where we've been," Jackson said."If we're going to continue to move forward as a nation, we cannot allow concerns about discomfort to displace knowledge truth or history," Jackson said.History is our best teacher, she said. It includes violence, hatred and prejudice -- but we have to own even the darkest parts of them and vow never to repeat them.She noted that "we must not shield our eyes.""We cannot forget, because the uncomfortable lessons are often the ones that teach us the most about ourselves," Jackson said. Watch her full speech below. Denise McNair, 11; Cynthia Wesley, 14; Carole Robertson, 14; and Addie Mae Collins, 14, died from the explosion. The sister of Addie Mae Collins, 12-year-old Sarah Collins Rudolph, survived the bombing but lost her eyesight. Twenty-two others were injured in the explosion.This happened during the height of the civil rights movement. The bomb was planted by Ku Klux Klan members under the steps of the church. Three men were convicted in 1977, 2001 and 2002. In remembrance of the 60th anniversary, Birmingham and its partners are hosting the 2023 Forging Justice Commemoration Week.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. —

Jackson spoke about the beauty of Alabama in the fight for civil rights - and why it mattered that this was the first time she had been here and "why now."

She discussed knowledge - and why oppressors of all kinds know that truth is powerful.

"We can only know where we are and where we're going if we realize where we've been," Jackson said.

"If we're going to continue to move forward as a nation, we cannot allow concerns about discomfort to displace knowledge truth or history," Jackson said.

History is our best teacher, she said. It includes violence, hatred and prejudice -- but we have to own even the darkest parts of them and vow never to repeat them.

She noted that "we must not shield our eyes."

"We cannot forget, because the uncomfortable lessons are often the ones that teach us the most about ourselves," Jackson said.

Watch her full speech below.

Denise McNair, 11; Cynthia Wesley, 14; Carole Robertson, 14; and Addie Mae Collins, 14, died from the explosion. The sister of Addie Mae Collins, 12-year-old Sarah Collins Rudolph, survived the bombing but lost her eyesight. Twenty-two others were injured in the explosion.

This happened during the height of the civil rights movement.

The bomb was planted by Ku Klux Klan members under the steps of the church. Three men were convicted in 1977, 2001 and 2002.

In remembrance of the 60th anniversary, Birmingham and its partners are hosting the 2023 Forging Justice Commemoration Week.

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U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson reflects during 16th Street Baptist Church commemoration

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