Stone Soup Leadership Institute

A Miracle in Montgomery
Miracle in Montgomery
Alabama Governor George Wallace became a symbol of the hatred and bigotry during the Civil Rights era. After being shot and paralyzed, he changed his ways, saying “I can understand something of the pain that black people have come to endure… I contributed to that pain and I can only ask forgiveness.” He then appointed 160 blacks to office and doubled the number of black voter’s registrations in Alabama. Thirty years after the 1965 march from Selma to Montgomery, he asked for the opportunity to join with others reenacting the famous march. In this story, Reverend Joseph Lowery shares his struggle to accept Wallace’s offer of repentance and tells of the miracle of forgiveness that happened that day.