News & Commentary

After the tragic death of E.J. Bradford, Jr., the ACLU of Alabama sought ways to help our community process its grief for E.J. and channel legitimate concerns that government officials might not learn from the tragedy.

Today, the 2019 Alabama Legislative Session begins. We'll also be sending out these updates as weekly emails to keep you informed about what's happening in session and to share tips on how you can make a difference in the legislature. Sign up here.

A family is still grieving after local police killed their son on Thanksgiving night after a gunman opened fire at a mall. But several months after the incident, the Alabama attorney general is still keeping the Bradfords, and the region’s Black community, in the dark about critical details.

February is Black History Month, a month dedicated to celebrating, honoring, and reflecting on the contributions that Black Americans have made to the United States. First celebrated as a single week in February, Black History Month became a month-long holiday in 1976, 200 years after the Declaration of Independence was issued. Gerald R. Ford, who was president at the time, asked the nation to “seize the opportunity to honor the too-often neglected accomplishments of Black Americans in every area of endeavor throughout our history.”

Domineque Ray was pronounced dead last night at 10:12 p.m. Thirty minutes prior, his execution by lethal injection began.

E.J. Bradford. Chikesia Clemons. Ulysses Wilkerson. Sureshbhai Patel. Greg Gunn. These are only a few of the names of those who have been in headlines after being brutalized or killed at the hands of law enforcement in the state of Alabama in recent years.

When Mississippi Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, who is in a run-off election with Democrat Mike Espy for the state's U.S. Senate seat, attempted to show her loyalty to one of her supporters during a recent campaign stop, she quipped: “If he invited me to a public hanging, I’d be on the front row.”

The ACLU of Alabama, Alabama Civic Engagement Coalition, Alabama Justice Initiative, Faith in Action, and Greater Birmingham Ministries came together to engage in your race because the stakes are high for all Jefferson County residents.

Now that the election season has come to an end, we want to take time to reflect on what we have learned during the midterm campaigns and look ahead for where Alabama must go from here.