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KKK survivor Sarah Collins Rudolph inspires UMich community

Feb 2023 13


Applause and cheers echoed through the University of Michigan’s Dance Building Auditorium Friday evening during “An Evening for Sarah,” a concert presented by Black Scholars in Dance in honor of Sarah Collins Rudolph. Rudolph, often referred to as the “fifth girl” is the only living survivor of the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing, an attack by the white supremacist Ku Klux Klan against a predominantly African American church in Birmingham, Ala. As the guest of honor, Collins Rudolph traveled from her home in Birmingham, Ala., to Ann Arbor to attend the concert and when she entered the packed auditorium she was greeted with a standing ovation.

In addition to Black Scholars in Dance — a group of Black dancers at the University — the event featured performances from singers, dancers and poets from U-M the University community. The event also featured guest performances by students from Oakland University..

The concert was organized by Music, Theatre & Dance senior Brooke Taylor, the president and founder of Black Scholars in Dance. At the beginning of the event, Taylor recounted how the idea for the event came to her last year. Taylor said she came across a news story about Collins Rudolph’s life and was inspired by her story of survival and perseverance. In hopes of educating others on Collins Rudolph’s story, Taylor started planning the educational concert with the support of the rest of Black Scholars in Dance.

“After 21 years of my life, I never knew there was a fifth little girl involved in the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing,” Taylor said. “Almost immediately I looked at my mom, and I said, ‘Mom, I think I’m gonna plan a concert in honor of Sarah Collins Rudolph next year.’ And here we are.”

When she was 12 years old, in 1963, Collins Rudolph was at the 16th Street Baptist Church for a youth day program when the KKK bombed the building. Over a dozen people were injured and four girls were killed — Collins Rudolph’s sister, Addie Mae Collins, and her friends Denise McNair, Carole Robertson and Cynthia Wesley. Collins Rudolph lost her right eye in the attack but survived, becoming known in history as the “fifth girl.” Collins Rudolph received an official apology from the state of Alabama for her injuries in October 2020, but has not received monetary compensation.

Music, Theatre & Dance junior Cristina Benn, vice president of Black Scholars in Dance,  participated in the dance performances titled “For the Five” and “Freedom Medley” during the concert. In an interview with The Michigan Daily before the event, Benn said she was excited to help celebrate the life and legacy of Collins Rudolph. 

“I’m really glad that students like us at our young age are able to put on shows like this to bring light to such stories that are very important,” Benn said. “I’m just happy that we’re able to do something to bring light to her story, as well as celebrate her and what she went through.”

The performance utilized the interactive technology of the University’s new dance building, which celebrated its grand opening in November, by accompanying the live performances with videos onCollins Rudolph’s story. U-M Dance professor Robin Wilson performed a ritual dance titled “Libations”, intended to resemble the African spiritual tradition of libation, where one pours out a drink as an offering to ancestral spirits.

Wilson’s performance was accompanied by drums, played by Music, Theatre & Dance staff member Marwan Amen-Ra. Before his performance, Wilson said he hoped the dance would allow the audience to better understand the ritual of libation.

“This tradition that we’re going to do here is called libation,” Wilson said. “This libation, this pouring of water into the earth, is a way to clear the space, to cool our hearts, to open our minds.”

The event continued with performances from the Oakland University Dance Repertory, a pre-professional dance company, and other groups performing dances, songs and spoken word.. Some of the individual acts combined multiple art forms such as Music, Theatre & Dance graduate student Njeri Rutherford’s dance routine “Golden Our” which featured Marsae Mitchell, a Detroit-based dance instructor, reciting poetry.

At the event, Mitchell said the performance was a transformative experience for her.

“I am the mist that sits above the river,” Mitchell said. “I’m the magic that moves this body. I am the divine body that moves its congregation. I wash away self-doubt.”

A group of U-M student actors performed the song “Smile, Smile” from “The Bubbly Black Girl Sheds Her Chameleon Skin,” a semi-autobiographical musical by Kirsten Childs about the experience of Black dancers in the late 1900s. The musical is set to be performed at the Arthur Miller Theatre on Feb. 25.

To conclude the performances, dancers performed “Freedom Medley,” a vibrant combination of song, dance and rap that brought the crowd to its feet once again. Collins Rudolph then came on stage to be recognized once more at the end of the event and Taylor presented her with an award.

“It says: ‘We honor you as a hero, whose voice was once silenced, but now was heard and inspires a whole new generation,’ ” Taylor said. “Mrs. Rudolph, we cannot thank you enough for being here. … (Collins Rudolph’s presence) inspires all of us, and really lives in our hearts.”

Daily Staff Reporter Madison Hammond can be reached at madihamm@umich.edu



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