September 15th, 1963 is a day forever etched into Barbara Cross’ mind as the day that changed everything for her and her family. It was the day of the 16thStreet Baptist Church Bombing. Ku Klux Klan members had placed a bomb in the basement of the historically African American church earlier that morning. The bombing claimed the lives of four little girls: Denise McNair, Carol Robertson, Addie Mae Collins and Cynthia Wesley.
Cross – whose father had been preaching at the church for just under a year at the time – gathered with dozens of people over the weekend for the 56th anniversary of the attack.
Cross shared with Christian Headlines that she returns to the 16thStreet Church each year on the anniversary of the bombing “to remember the lives that were taken.”
At this year’s anniversary service, dozens of people from across the country came to remember the lives lost including guest speaker, Former Vice President Joe Biden.
“The church bombing forced us to confirm the truth about ourselves as a nation that day,” Biden said as he spoke over the packed room.
The former Vice President noted how the bombing highlighted the lack of racial equality in the nation, an issue that America is still struggling with today. “My mother had an old saying that one should walk a mile in her shoes to understand her.
“I can never fully understand, as a…
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