The author was one minute away from death when she climbed the steps out of the Sixth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama. Visiting her four friends who were making sure they looked presentable for the youth presentation on youth Sunday, Carolyn greeted them in the basement bathroom, and then went up the steps to record the Sunday school attendance.

Suddenly, a bomb exploded, throwing her friends against the wall and trapping them inside the concrete. Carolyn was haunted for years. Tired and depressed from the services, and the "what ifs'" she constantly tortured herself with, she spun more and more into severe depression. The person responsible for placing the bomb was tried, but was not arrested. There was no price paid for the death of her friends until years later when the case was once again opened.

Later, when the bombing and the deaths were examined more closely, there was retribution. But, for years, Carolyn only went through the motions of moving on. Marrying, having two children, and moving a lot when her husband's job demanded this, Carolyn grew ever depressed.

Writing and speaking about her friends brought anger and extreme sadness. It seemed that in the south, "While the World Watched," the culprits who bombed houses, who killed innocent black children and adults, got away with murder. The trial of Emmett Till only added to her sadness and anger when she realized yet another innocent young man could be blatantly murdered with no recourse. The KKK got away with their night raids of terror and their plans of severe harm.

She marched with the children as "Bull" Connor had the fire hoses blast children against buildings as their German Shepard dogs took pieces of flesh from their skin. She knew Martin Luther King personally as well as other Civil Rights advocates.

It was only her Christian faith and the knowledge that she had to forgive to move forward. I'm not sure I could have had the courage she did, nor am I sure that I could have forgiven those who blatantly, with malice watched as others were killed or maimed.

One of the best books I've read about the years during the American Civil Rights movement.

Five Stars

by Carolyn Maull McKinstry | Read by Felicia Bullock
Biography & Memoir • 8 hrs. • Unabridged • © 2013
On September 15, 1963, a bomb exploded in the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama. Felicia Bullock narrates with a gentle, subtle voice that complements the text and captures the emotions involved in the author’s account. She was 14 years old at the time and had just left the church’s bathroom. Four little girls were killed. She survived, and the Civil Rights movement was propelled forward. Bullock focuses on every word and pauses effectively to allow listeners to contemplate the author’s experience. She does, however, read just a bit too slowly, dragging out sentences and leaving too much space in her narration. This makes what should be a more spirited book languish. R.I.G. SYNC 2014 © AudioFile 2014, Portland, Maine [Published: JANUARY 2014]

Trade Ed. • Oasis Audio • 2013

CD ISBN 9781613755549 $27.99 • Seven CDs

DD ISBN $19.59



Library Ed. • Oasis Audio • 2013

I can't believe this book was eliminated from a public library, but I suppose they ran out of space. This story should never be forgotten. Hopefully this copy purchased used from the Friends of the Library Bookstore and preserved now in a church library will be read and understood by generations to come. The author, Carolyn Maul McKinstry was a 15 year old eye witness to the horrific tragedy in Birmingham, Alabama when the 16th Street Baptist church was bombed and her four friends were killed. Denise McNair, 11, Carole Robertson, 14 Addie Mae Collins. 14 and Cynthia Wesley, 14.need to be remembered. This book, While the World Watched will take you back to what some of us saw on TV back in 1963. This book fills in all the details of the girls, their families, their church what it was like in the Jim Crow South. It is a tearjerker of a multilayered story that must not be forgotten. Dr. Martin Luther King, spoke at funeral services. The book concludes with a significant letter. dated Sept. 15, 2008 from Barack Obama to the church. Young and old are encouraged to read this book. Let's not let the tragic death of Addie, Carole, Cynthia and Denise be in vain. One sweet memory the author has as she look back 40 years is of her and friends singing that old precious song "it is Well with My Soul."

A moving story on the Birmingham, Alabama bombing. Heavy on the christian bit, which I found at times a bit too much. But then I thought that faith can help people...just not me. ( )

Attention:

There are some pictures with this. They are NOT graphic but still sad to see.

I have so many emotions about this book going on inside of me right now that I don't know exactly how to start let alone finish. I will do my very best not to get too long winded but I won't promise....

I will begin with what I put on Amazon's review when I finished the book (Read this on Kindle) & I will go from there...

This book touched me in so many ways and for so many reasons. I deal with a lot of hurt from my past as well and her talking about forgiveness for the people who killed her friends and others who hurt her...helped me to deal with my issues as well.

This started off as me getting deeper into learning about a topic I've studied for over 20 years and then goes into me also learning to let go and heal. I had always enjoyed learning about Dr. Martin Luther King when I was in elementary school...Then, when I hit my Senior year of high school (1992-1993), I had to retake history and got a teacher by the name of Mrs.V. Leake, and that was the best class retake I could have ever had...she pushed me (and other students)even deeper into learning about the Civil Rights Movement,Slavery and just our history period...regardless of race....

When I first learned of (read about) the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing (September 15, 1963) I was heartbroken...(I wasn't born until almost 11 years after the bombing, in September 1974)I learned what I could about it and heard a little about the cases that the prosecutors had tried to bring charges but no such luck at that time...So, many years later they did bring charges against two (2) men...When they tried to bring charges on another man previously, he died before they could file them. (No, this is not a spoiler, it is part of "public record")

Carolyn talked about her experience at the church as a child and teenager...What was going on during the day of the bombing and what the other four (4) young ladies were doing right before the bombing...

As she got older, went off to college, married, had children...she spoke of her feelings and the struggles she had throughout her life because of the bombing and losing her friends, Denise, Addie Mae, Carole, & Cynthia.

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But she doesn't just talk about the bombing. She talks about some things that happened to lead up to that bombing and why the church was targeted. Martin Luther King coming to speak, marches, the children marching (the ones who were hosed & had dogs attack them)

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She speaks of her beliefs and what she feels has gotten her through all of her tough times in her life. And when she began speaking of that in her adulthood and the issues she had to fight...that touched me as well because, as I stated earlier, I have had to deal with my issues and when she talked about trying to battle through some of them...It helped me to know that, with all she has seen and been through...and she can work through hers, I can work through mine as well and the change will not happen overnight!

I guess the feelings I had for this book didn't necessarily come out the way I expected them to but I still have a great feeling of emotion over this book and the things she talked about. Even if you don't study the C.R.M. but you want to know more about what took place and want a personal account of it, this book is a good start. It came out around the time of the 50th anniversary of the bombing this year. And that's what made me pick it up to read it. She does jump back and forth from one situation to the next. She may speak of something that took place at the church, then go forward in years or back in years then go back to the church again...But it's very easy to follow...For me it was anyway.

I will end this with a couple of my favorite quotes/speeches from Dr. King:

martin luther king quotes photo: Decide to Love, hate is too great a burden, Martin Luther King Jr LoveHate_zpsf8ed0f8d.jpg

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