Tales From the Writing Life – Melanie Morrison, Author of Death on Shades Mountain

Join us as Melanie S. Morrison, an author, speaker, and racial justice educator with 30 years of experience helping communities navigate the deep work of transformation. She tells the story of three young white women were brutally attacked on Birmingham’s Shades Mt. in 1931. The sole survivor, Nell Williams, said a Black man had held the women captive for four hours before shooting them and disappearing into the woods. That same night, a reign of terror was unleashed on Birmingham's Black community: Black businesses were set ablaze, posses of armed white men roamed the streets, and dozens of Black men were arrested in the largest manhunt in Jefferson County history. This program will tell the story of the attack and its aftermath — events that shook Birmingham to its core. The presentation will also shed light on the individuals and organizations who sought to free Willie Peterson and struggled unceasingly for racial justice in Depression-era Birmingham.