BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WIAT) -- Thousands of people took to the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute on Martin Luther King Jr. Day to take in history and reflect on the past.
“Sometimes, you can’t always rely on the education system to teach them about their history, so taking the time to learn for themselves and educate themselves is just the best part of this day,” said Jessica Bailey, a mother from Birmingham.
From reading King’s "Letter from Birmingham Jail" while standing next to the cell to seeing the charred Greyhound bus freedom riders were on when it was blown up in Anniston and hearing archived reports from when these events all happened, some people said the holiday is more than just a day off work and school.
"Birmingham obviously is a -- was a -- hot bed during the civil rights movement, and so there’s a lot of history and a lot of education," Birmingham resident Derrel Nunn said. "We just wanted to be a part of it to experience today.”
The BCRI says around 2,000 people visited on the holiday.
“This is for everybody," Nunn said. "This is not just for Black people. This is for America. This is American history. I know we designate it Black Americans, but it’s American history, and it’s something we can all learn and be a part of.”
At different ages, MLK Day can mean different things.
"He’s my hero because he always helped and never used violence, even though if they burned down his house, he still used peace,” said third-grade student Navah Verrett.
“I wanted to know more about what Black, colored people had to struggle through, so we could get to the point now that we are in society,” said fifth-grade student Nola Verrett.
"He'd stand up to white people, and I discovered that Black people had to sit on the back of the bus,” said first-grader Noxx Verrett.
"Commemorating his life and his legacy and the positive change that he has made to our country and our nation,” Birmingham resident Brandis Cook said.
"Equality. The very thing we’re still fighting for today," Nunn said. "So many of the words he spoke during his time when he was alive still resonate with us today.”
Some of these words displayed around the BCRI.
"To see visuals of it have been very eye opening for them,” Bailey said.
The BCRI said being family-friendly is important because while schools teach the civil rights movement in some grades, it knows these are conversations that happen at home at all ages, and it wants to be a resource to help families learn.
"This institute is an opportunity for them to learn about the Children’s March of 1963, also called the 'Children’s Miracle,'" said Tiffani Saxton, the BCRI's vice president of strategy and engagement. "One of the reasons why we love to do programming for all ages, why we partner with our city schools, partner with our local universities and our libraries is so that that opportunity to connect to that story really gets implanted early, and you plant a seed for humanity, for human rights, for justice.”
The BCRI said it has many more events planned, especially in February with Black History Month.