The Smell of War
Clip: Season 10 Episode 1002 | 1m 4sVideo has Closed Captions
Birmingham's Center Street was nicknamed Dynamite Hill because it was bombed over 50 times.
Center Street in Birmingham, Alabama was nicknamed Dynamite Hill because it was bombed more than 50 times between 1947 and 1957. The street’s homes were targeted by white supremacists because of the rise of Black homeownership. Birmingham natives recall the wave of terror.
Support for Reel South is made possible by the National Endowment for the Arts, the Center for Asian American Media and by SouthArts.
The Smell of War
Clip: Season 10 Episode 1002 | 1m 4sVideo has Closed Captions
Center Street in Birmingham, Alabama was nicknamed Dynamite Hill because it was bombed more than 50 times between 1947 and 1957. The street’s homes were targeted by white supremacists because of the rise of Black homeownership. Birmingham natives recall the wave of terror.
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Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorship- I grew up in Birmingham, Alabama.
Some very, very good friends of mine were killed by bombs, bombs that were planted by racists.
I remember it from the time I was very small.
I remember the sounds of bombs exploding across the street, our house shaking.
- The bombers would come up here, up the hill in a decommissioned police car.
Many times, the police were clansmen as well and they would lay their robes on the back shelf of the car just for intimidation purposes.
It was commonplace to live in terror.
I don't know how I could better explain that.
Gunpowder and concrete dust has a distinctive odor.
When I talk about it with my friends from Vietnam, they say, this sounds like war.
That's the way war smelled.
[calm music]
I'm Still Here | Official Trailer
Survivors of Birmingham’s bombings work to transform the city’s painful history. (17s)
Meeting Martin Luther King, Jr.
Video has Closed Captions
A Center Street resident recalls family friend Martin Luther King, Jr. (1m 2s)
Providing Support for PBS.org
Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorship
Support for Reel South is made possible by the National Endowment for the Arts, the Center for Asian American Media and by SouthArts.