A messenger
Ask Joe Minter who he is, and he’ll answer — in earnest, without a hint of self-importance or mockery — that he’s an “African messenger, a messenger of God.” To the folks in Birmingham who know of...
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Doulas do-what?
Photo courtesy of BirthWell Partners. Trends in pregnancy and birth sometimes seem peculiar — placenta eating, umbilical cord saving, partying to reveal the gender (or sex, to get specific) of the...
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Moveable type, creative types
Southern-style stationary courtesy of The Southern Letterpress. Photo by Jessica Peterson. Shannon Harris is a daughter of design. The coordinator of Design Week’s Letter Press and Screen Printers...
View ArticleStriking a balance
More than 30 years have passed since Natalie Merchant and the 10,000 Maniacs recorded their first record. Two weeks shy of her 50th birthday, Merchant will take the stage of the Alys Stephens Center to...
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The sting
Peter Tubbs, pictured here with friend Todd Willoughby, had to get creative to recover his stolen bike. Although it’s been a few days since hairstylist Peter Tubbs recovered his stolen bike, when he...
View ArticleGirl Scouts CEO resigns
A national search will soon begin for the replacement of Patricia Coghlan, who resigned, effective October 27, from her position as chief executive officer of the Girls Scouts of North Central Alabama....
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The Birmingham stage: boom or bust?
Photo from Birmingham Festival Theatre’s production of “The Glass Menagerie” by David Garrett. Marci Turner is new on the theater scene in Birmingham. As the wig mistress and costume assistant at Red...
View ArticleWise-cracking
Fans of David Sedaris return to his essays — now totaling eight collections — for his sardonic wit and incisive observations about the bizarre (strap-on catheters) and the mundane (dentists)....
View ArticleCurious scouts
A week after the chief executive officer of the local Girl Scout council resigned, the group is heading back to court to determine whether the council violated bylaws and misrepresented its actions in...
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Righteous and ragged
Since releasing their first record, There is a Bomb in Gilead, in 2012, Lee Bains III & the Glory Fires have toured internationally, opened for the Alabama Shakes and chased trolls in Norway. Next...
View ArticleGrassroots president in Scouting
The former head of the Friends of Camp Coleman is now leading the Girl Scouts council, the very group she once opposed in a fight to save the camp. Sarah Edwards is the new board president for local...
View ArticleMile on the moon
Sarah Jarosz was 10 years old and learning the mandolin when she started playing Friday night bluegrass jams on the back porch of a catfish restaurant in her hometown of Wimberley, Texas. Before she...
View ArticleGirl Scouts pass camp resolution
This morning, the Girl Scouts of North-Central Alabama (GSNCA) voted to reopen camps to its membership while the organization reevaluates the property plan that mandated their closures. The board of...
View ArticleLGBT equality in Alabama
As the city wraps its yearlong 50 Years Forward commemoration of the Civil Rights Movement, a new report shows Birmingham is lagging behind on another human rights issue. The Human Rights Campaign...
View ArticleBrief encounters with Belle Adair
Belle Adair play their single, “Shakin’ Dead,” for the Spectra Sonic Sound Sessions, a new video series from BMR show The Audiovore. As front man of Belle Adair, Matt Green is a modest man making...
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Leaving Crestwood
Westcott Shaw left Crestwood so that her eight-year-old son could attend a quality public school. Westcott Shaw loves Crestwood. Like other neighborhood residents, Shaw is proud to own a home in the...
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Year-end for Scouting
Photo by Katherine Webb. As the New Year approaches so does a return to tradition for local Girl Scouts. On January 15, troops will return to historic Camp Coleman. And with that return, the Girl...
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Cooper Green’s St. George’s Clinic
Art from St. George’s Clinic was transferred to the 1917 Clinic to make patients feel at home. Photo by Katherine Webb. This January is the one-year anniversary of the closing of Cooper Green Mercy...
View ArticleFire, death and punk in East Lake
It’s no wonder George Cowgill writes. The 40-year-old East Lake resident, who co-owns Black Market Bar & Grill and serves as a firefighter, was once a straightedge member of a punk-fueled gang of...
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Who is Ensley?
A Lil’ of Everything and Then Some sits on a mostly abandoned strip in downtown Ensley. Photo by Katherine Webb. Growing up in the 1980s and ‘90s, K.D. McDaniel says he thought Ensley was a regular,...
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Who can be a minimalist?
Ryan Nicodemus and Josh Millburn have garnered millions of readers for their blog, The Minimalists. Joshua Millburn is a self-described minimalist, and although Millburn is an aspiring novelist, the...
View ArticleDr. Glenda Elliott awarded for safe school efforts
This Sunday, Equality Alabama will hold its 16th Annual Vigil for Victims of Hate and Violence. One of the day’s honorees, Birmingham resident Dr. Glenda Elliott, says she is honored to be receiving an...
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Back at Funtime
Photo by David Garrett. Nothing about the Funtime Skate Center in Fultondale serves as metaphor for the endeavor that takes place here three nights a week. Not the ghastly stripes of Old Glory glowing...
View ArticleThe banjo and black history
With the award-winning, old-time string band the Carolina Chocolate Drops, Hubby Jenkins has helped to bring African roots of American folk to mainstream culture — a task he says he never set out to...
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Bottoms up to good health?
Spring is near. As the days draw longer and the sun glows warmer, the folks of Birmingham will no doubt seek the green spaces of city parks and trails — to take a rest, to break a sweat. Amanda Blake...
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Midwives for Alabama mothers?
Supporters for home birth and the legalization for midwifery at a 2011 rally. Photo by dview.us. For women’s movements, the right to choose, or lack thereof, has often been the catalyst for action. For...
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Part Two: Midwives for Alabama Mothers?
Photo by Nezua. The women in Alabama who choose home birth say it’s time the state recognizes that choice. In many states, that option is sanctioned by the recognition of the certified professional...
View ArticleHelping parents grieve
A national nonprofit is now serving Birmingham families during a time of mourning. Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep (NILMDTS) provides free professional photography to parents suffering the loss of a baby to...
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In sickness and in health, in Alabama and elsewhere
The second parent in a lesbian family in Alabama cannot adopt her partner’s legal child. For most couples, the routine hustle of everyday life is challenge enough. For same-sex couples in the South,...
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The future of the Girl Scouts
Camp Director Laura Elliott stands on the Camp Coleman grounds. Photo by Katherine Webb. Outside her office, standing on a covered porch that overlooks the rolling grounds of Camp Coleman, Laura Elliot...
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