I've read so many books on the Civil Rights movement, I should be a historian at the Civil Rights Institute. That's not a bad idea, maybe I should go volunteer when I finish this book. But it doesn't matter how many books I've read, there was no substitute for talking to Mr. Tommy Wrenn as I often did when I was downtown at Green Acres (chicken spot) or at Magic City Barber Shop getting a fresh cut. Mr.Wrenn, Mr. Percy Hornbuckle and a few other "old timers" could talk for hours about the movement and just about anything else.
This week Mr Wrenn died of a heart attack shortly after giving a speech at Southeastern Bible College here in Birmingham. He was a great man. He served his country at a time when his country wouldn't serve him.
He was Foot Soldier!(http://www.footsoldier.uga.edu/
He would go to towns and set up routes for protest marchers before Dr. King and others arrived. He and other men would patrol black neighborhoods throughout the city, making sure the Klan knew, "You come down dis street, we shootin' "as he would say.There are so many things I could tell you about this man but there isn't enough space on this blog or enough words in my vocabulary to describe exactly what Mr. Wrenn meant to the city of Birmingham and the movement. Mr. Wrenn will be definitely be missed.
Tommy Wrenn was 78 years old.
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