Birmingham’s high score for equality, new JVTF facility, MLK event

This month in City Beat, we offer items about the city of Birmingham’s strong performance as a champion for LGBTQ rights, a new downtown facility for Jones Valley Teaching Farm and a fun event that honors Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. while promoting fitness.

We also provide some tips on great places in Birmingham to see cool visual art in January.

Perfect score

The largest LGBTQ advocacy group and political lobbying organization in the United States, the Human Rights Campaign fights to protect and expand rights for LGBTQ people, including same-sex marriage, anti-discrimination and hate crimes legislation.

The city of Birmingham recently received its highest-ever total raw score of 108 in the 10th edition of the organization’s Municipal Equality Index.

The MEI is designed to measure how inclusive the laws, policies and services of a city are for the LGBTQ people who live and work there. The survey takes into such factors as non-discrimination laws, law enforcement and municipal services.

Birmingham achieved “All-Star” status for its perfect score, despite the fact that Alabama lacks non-discrimination statutes that expressly protect LGBTQ people, according to a city news release.

In fact, Birmingham’s score is far higher than any other city in the state. For example, Montgomery scored 40, Auburn 29, Tuscaloosa 24 and Huntsville 20. Hoover scored 12 and Florence scored a zero.

To see the entire MEI, go to hrc.org/resources/mei-2021-see-your-cities-scores.

The power of food

The Jones Valley Teaching Farm announced Dec. 2 that construction of its new Center for Food Education at 701 25th St. N. downtown is complete.

Located at the JVTF downtown farm, the center is now open for private events and will celebrate its grand opening in spring 2022 when programming for students commences, according to a news release from the nonprofit.

“I believe that the power of growing, cooking and sharing food can impact our community in incredible ways,” said Amanda Storey, JVTF executive director,

in a news release from the organization. “The Center for Food Education will be a place to gather and teach, experience and celebrate, and grow — quite literally — together as a community.”

The center is anchored by a large, covered pavilion, which serves as a gathering space for residents, students and community members to gather for classes and workshops.

Extending from the pavilion are three wings: the education and administrative wing; the farm wing, which serves as a space to store food and for volunteers to gather; and the community wing, where JVTF’s farm stand, a pay-as-you-can donation-based model, will be located.

The center was made possible by the support of many partners, including the Sprouts Healthy Communities Foundation, which gave JVTF $300,000 in capital campaign funds in 2021, according to the news release.

The foundation is dedicated to improving school garden learning, nutrition education and expanding equitable access to food.

For more information, go to jvtf.org.

Happy Birthday, Birmingham

Birmingham, which officially became a city on Dec. 19, 1871, celebrated its sesquicentennial in 2021.

As one way to celebrate this birthday, Mayor Randall L. Woodfin invited the public to submit photos for the Birmingham View Photo Challenge to capture the city’s people, landmarks and events.

The winning photos are on display in an exhibit at the Birmingham Museum of Art through Jan. 9.

The photos “capture all the people and places that define us — the heartbeat of our city,” Woodfin said in a city news release.

“The selections really represented the breadth and richness of life in the Magic City,’’ said Graham Boettcher, director of the Birmingham Museum of Art.

The images are in the following categories: Events in Birmingham; Cityscapes and Landscapes; Birmingham Landmarks; and People.

The judges included artists Celestia Cookie Morgan and Carolyn Sherer; Darius Hill, chair of the Visual Arts Department at the Alabama School of Fine Arts; and Laura Kate Whitney of the Birmingham Business Alliance.

For more information, call 205-254-2565 or go to artsbma.org.

Multisensory memorial

Vinegar Contemporary is an artist-run, women-led nonprofit gallery in Birmingham that exhibits and champions artists that push the boundaries in emerging and experimental art forms.

The latest creator in that category to exhibit at Vinegar is Orlando Thompson, an artist and filmmaker from St. Louis.

Through Jan. 22, the gallery will present Thompson’s installation, “Memorials for Souls Can’t Go Home,” which is inspired by roadside memorials.

The multisensory installation — to be presented in a dark room — promises to be a haunting, unforgettable experience, with attendees hearing the fragmented, indecipherable sounds of a human voice.

Thompson questions what happens to a Black person’s soul when it’s “forcibly removed from its host body” due to the violence around the world that is sanctioned by racism and functions as a means of control, according to a news release from the gallery.

“I see a lot more makeshift memorials being erected in remembrance of people killed in malicious ways,” Thompson said in the news release. “I imagine their souls gain density, keeping them bound to this planet and unable to ascend to what is beyond the physical. This project explores what a dense soul could look like and how it might behave.”

Vinegar Contemporary is located at 701 37th St. S., Suite 12, in Forest Park. For details about the exhibition, call 205-201-4489 or go to vinegarprojects.org.

Art along 4th Avenue

Another place to see powerful visual art in Birmingham is the Historic 4th Avenue Business District downtown.

Located along Fourth Avenue North between 15th Street and 19th Street, the district is the historic center of African American commerce and entertainment in the city

There are several new murals in the district.

For example, a mural by Erica Chisolm at 1610 Fourth Ave. N. called “4th Ave Forward” highlights a community-driven revitalization plan for the district, according to the nonprofit organization Urban Impact.

Another mural by Chisolm nearby honors Angela Davis, a Birmingham native and internationally known activist for human rights and equality.

For more about Chisolm’s work, go to elcreative.co or @elcreativ.e.

Also in the 1600 block of Fourth Avenue North is a mural by artist Jamie Bonfiglio that honors Carrie A. Tuggle, the iconic Birmingham educator, philanthropist and social activist who died in 1924.

For more about Bonfiglio, go to jamietheartist.storenvy.com or instagram.com/iam_jamietheartist.

Honoring Dr. King

America honors Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the late, legendary civil rights leader, with Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a national holiday that will be celebrated this year Monday, Jan. 17.

However, on Saturday, Jan. 15,  Birmingham area residents can honor the icon who helped transform the Magic City during the civil rights movement of the 1960s by taking part in the sixth annual MLK Day 5K Drum Run/Walk.

The event will start at and finish at 1700 Fourth Ave. N. The 5K will start at 8 a.m., and the 1-mile fun run/walk will start at 9 a.m., according to the event website.

The race features drumlines from Birmingham metro area schools and organizations that line up along the 3.1-mile course to keep the beat for the runners and walkers.

Each drumline receives a donation to their band booster association through the event’s sponsoring nonprofit, The Leftover Energy Foundation.

In addition to honoring King, the event promotes the benefits of fitness.

Along the course, participants will see such sights as the Civil Rights District, the Rotary Trail and Birmingham Green.

Pre-race activities include music and a warm-up, and post-race activities include booths presented by sponsors and various organizations and a drumline exhibition.

For details or to register, go to mlkday5kbham.com.