The measure was adopted by a vote of 141 in favour to 5 against (Belarus, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Eritrea, Russian Federation, and Syria) with 35 abstentions - a clear reaffirmation of the 193-member world body’s commitment to Ukraine’s sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity. The AG Gaston Motel and other landmarks of the Birmingham National Civil Rights Monument are now under consideration to become a UNESCO World Heritage site.Member States today overwhelmingly adopted a resolution demanding the Russian Federation immediately end its invasion of Ukraine and unconditionally withdraw all its military forces from that neighbouring country, as the General Assembly continued its emergency session on the crisis.ĭeploring in the strongest terms its aggression against Ukraine in violation of the Charter of the United Nations, the Assembly also demanded the Russian Federation immediately and unconditionally reverse its 21 February decision related to the status of certain areas of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine. "You can't separate the struggles and triumphs of Black people from the American story." "It should continue to be a place for reflection on the sacrifices that our elders and our ancestors have made so that we are able to gather here today," she says. Now, Gilmore says the motel can serve as a reminder of AG Gaston's legacy and what was achieved in Birmingham in forcing the nation to recognize the human rights of Black Americans. "I think he spent over $160,000 bailing people out. "Gaston bailed out so many people," Gilmore says. You know," Gaston said.īirmingham's Denise Gilmore says even though Gaston was not marching in the streets, his support sustained the movement here. "I was with the movement, but I just couldn't see myself getting out there and provoking somebody to hit me. In one archive video Gaston explains his position. The Summer of '63 50 Years Later, King's Birmingham 'Letter' Still Resonatesīack at the AG Gaston Motel, there's a new exhibit about his life and work. While leaders like MLK and Shuttlesworth were the public faces of the movement, Gaston used his wealth and influence behind the scenes, and preferred to keep the lines of communication open with the white power structure. Gaston however was controversial in his day because of the middle ground he tried to stake out. "He's the backbone." Staking out the middle ground, controversially "The quiet shepherd who said that any and all things the Black community needs, if we can't get it somewhere else, we're going to build our own," Woodfin says. Woodfin says Gaston was vital to Black Birmingham's progress. He has a personal connection – as a child Woodfin played on the peewee football team for the AG Gaston Boy's Club. I call him a civil rights icon," says Malone.īirmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin says the city is working to honor Gaston's contributions. Gaston's descendants are glad to see the AG Gaston Motel restored after so many years, and are now pushing to have a Birmingham street named after him. It was one of his favorite activities, and where he could clear his mind, she says. She has fond memories of fishing trips with her great-grandfather. "He was about providing the yes in order to invest in a future of people that had not even been born yet." Rochelle Malone sees her great grandfather as revolutionary. And he wanted other Black people to see that they could make it too." "He was a fighter and he was determined and he made it. The odds were terribly against him," Gardner says with admiration. "I cannot even imagine what he went through trying to be in business. He says it's remarkable what his uncle achieved given the hostile climate in the Deep South when he was starting out in the 1920s. Gardner, 69, has fond memories of going to his uncle's house as a child to swim in the backyard pool. Washington, who he considered a role model. He clicks off the list of businesses that followed, including an insurance company, cemeteries, a bank, a pharmacy, a bottling company, a construction firm, a business college, a nursing home, and radio stations. "The funeral home was the basis of his empire," says funeral home director Paul Gardner, one of Gaston's nephews. Paul Gardner, director of the Smith and Gaston Funeral Home and AG Gaston's nephew, says that his uncle's legacy resonates in the Black community today.
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