One less monster

Bobby Frank Cherry is dead at 74, which means he spent only two years of his miserable life serving a murder sentence. It wasn't until 2002 that Frank was convicted of killing Addie Mae Collins, Carol Denise McNair, Cynthia Diane Wesley, and Carole Robertson, when he and two other klansmen blew up the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham in 1963.

According to one of his attorneys, Cherry rejected a deal in which he would receive probation if he pleaded guilty to transporting explosives over state lines. However, Cherry continued to deny any involvement in the bombing. An equal-opportunity child-stalker, Cherry was already in jail in Texas on charges of raping his stepdaughter.

The Birmingham Civil Rights Institute is one of America's most spellbinging museums. Located across the street from the 16th Avenue Baptist Church, the Institute utilizes every imaginable medium to present the history of the civil rights struggle. There is music, art, sculpture, a large collection of documents, and artifacts such as Dr. King's jail cell. Throughout the museum are videos that are horrifying to watch. In one portion of the museum, as you walk, you hear an audiotape of people talking; their conversation isn't overtly racist, but it is a reminder of how people talk when they are one-up in the society, and hearing it is a chilling experience.

After you have seen the state-of-the art museum, you can walk across the street to the church and view the small area where there is a simple memorial to the four girls who were murdered there. It is a visit you won't forget.

Birmingham, a lovely city, has placed its horrific history right in the middle of town, where it belongs, for everyone to see.

Cherry is dead. Another of the bombers, Robert Chambliss, also died in prison, leaving Thomas Blanton Jr.--who once bragged of his plans to bomb more churches--serving a life sentence.