News — Alabama

In 1939 during the Jim Crow era, baritone Clarence Fountain, bass Johnny Fields, baritone and guitarist George Scott, baritone Ollice Thomas, and tenor Velma Trayler, all elementary school students attending the Alabama Institute for the Negro Blind and singing in its glee club, formed an ensemble, The Blind Boys of Alabama. All of the members were blind except for Fountain, who was visually impaired. They were first called the “Happyland Jubilee Singers.”

In addition, to their required basic academics at the Institute, they were taught to read Braille, make brooms, chairs, and shelves. During their early teens, in 1944, they left school and began singing and making money in local churches and community activities. However, they did not record until 1948, releasing their debut single, “I can see everybody’s mother but mine,” on the Veejay label.

In 1953, Blind Boys of Alabama signed a contract with Art Rupe’s California-based Specialty Records. However, the relationship dissolved after five years as they refusal to sing secular music. After leaving Specialty Records in 1957, the group briefly signed with a few small labels before joining the Chicago-based Vee-Jay label. The group recorded extensively for the Vee-Jay label, coming out with “Can I get a witness” in 1964. 

In 1982, they recorded the album I’m a Soldier in the Army of the Lord, with the Philadelphia producers Kenneth Gamble and Leon Huff. And the following year, 1983, they received national acclaim for their performance in the Off-Broadway stage production of Gospel at Colonus, a contemporary musical adaptation of the Greek tragedy Oedipus at Colonus by Sophocles but set in a black Pentecostal church. The production received two OBIE Awards and nominations for a Pulitzer Prize as well as a Tony Award. 

In 1992, the Blind Boys received their first Grammy nomination for the album Deep River.  A decade later, in 2001, The Blind Boys of Alabama released Spirit of the Century on Peter Gabriel’s Real World label and won the first of their Grammy Award for Best Traditional Gospel Album. In addition, they won consecutive Grammys for “Higher Ground” in 2002, “Go Tell It on the Mountain” in 2003, and “There Will Be a Light” (a collaboration with Ben Harper) in 2004 which peaked at #81 on Billboard 200 and was six weeks on the chart.

In 2014 the Blind Boys released Talkin’ Christmas, a collaboration with Taj Mahal. Three years later in 2017 the Blind Boys released Almost Home on the band’s own BBOA Records label in collaboration with Amazon Music.

Velma Trayler died in 1947 at 24, George Scott died in 2005 at the age of 75. Johnny Fields died in 2009 at 82; Clarence Fountain died in 2018. He was 88. Ollice Thomas died in 2020 at 94.

The Blind Boys of Alabama, one of the most extended ongoing gospel groups, remains active with new members and relevant with its gospel legacy extending into 21st century music.

The O’Jays, an R&B ensemble from Canton, Ohio, was formed in 1958 by childhood friends Eddie Levert, who was born in Bessemer, Alabama in 1942 and moved to Canton at the age of 8, and Walter Williams, Sr. born in Canton in 1942.  They became best friends and a singing duet in 1958. The duo invited other schoolmates who could sing, William Powell, born in Canton in 1942; Bobby Massey, born in Canton in 1942; and Bill Isles, born in 1941 in McAntenville, North Carolina, also joined.  The five, all of whom attended McKinley High School in Canton, first called themselves the Triumphs but in a1960 they changed their name to the Mascots.

In 1961, The Mascots released a single, “Miracles,” on the Cincinnati-based King label. Their song was actively promoted by Eddie O’Jay, a popular disc jockey in Cleveland, Ohio. As a tribute to him, they in 1963 rename themselves the O’Jays.

The group’s first chart hit was “Lonely Drifter” in 1963.  Two years later in 1965, they moved to Los Angeles, California and earned their first national R&B hit, “Lipstick Traces on a Cigarette, which peaked at # 28 on the R&B chart.  The next year, 1966, the group reached # 12 on the R&B chart with “Stand in for Love.”

Kenny Gamble & Leon A. Huff signed the O’Jays to their Philadelphia International label in 1972 and there they had their first and only million-selling single, “Back Stabbers” which reached #1 on the R&B chart and no. #3 pop on the US Billboard Hot 100 later that year.  In 1973, their hit “Love Train” followed, peaking at #9 on the R&B chart. Unusual for an R&B song, the lyrics of “Love Train” promoted global unity. While not as successful as “Back Stabbers,” it went gold, selling more than 500,000 copies. Many music critics considered it the birth of Philadelphia-style soul music.

The O’Jays received the Rhythm & Blues Foundation’s Pioneer Award in 1997. In 2001, the O’Jays’ For the Love album released earlier in the year, was nominated for a Grammy in the category of Best Traditional R&B Vocal Album. Additionally, they were inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2004 and The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2005. Four years later, in 2009, BET awarded the group the Lifetime Achievement Award, and in 2011 they received the Trumpet Lifetime Achievement Award. The O’Jays were inducted into the National Rhythm and Blues Hall of Fame in 2013, and in 2019, they receive the Soul Tracks Lifetime Achievement Award.

In 2019, it was discovered that much of the O’Jays original music scores and recording documents were destroyed in the 2008 Universal fire on the backlot of Universal Studios Hollywood in Los Angeles, California.

Romay Davis is not your average convenience store shelf stacker. This 101-year-old woman has been working at the local Winn-Dixie in Alabama’s capital city for the last twenty years. As part of Black History Month, and to honor her for her service and all that she stands for, Winn-Dixie’s parent company, Southeastern Grocers, has set up a grant in her name.  

The Romay Davis Belonging, Inclusion and Diversity Grant Program will fund nonprofits that fight for racial equity and social justice. The fund will also contribute to issues concerning racial disparities, health care, food insecurity and minorities.

Davis was born on October 29, 1919 in King George County, Virginia. She made her mark during World War II as part of the first all-Black Women Army Corps unit that was deployed overseas.

After the war, Davis got into the fashion industry, first as a designer and then a model in New York with a career in the industry spanning three decades. Through it all, she found time to pursue an education as she bagged a master’s degree along the way and sang in the choir in Martin Luther King’s church.

In fact, if anyone made a wrong move to attack her in the 70s, Davis would have tackled them with ease, having earned a Black Belt in Taekwondo at the time. To date, she drives herself to work every day even at her age.

Davis retired from active service in 1982 to spend time with her husband and family. A then 80-year-old Davis decided to get back to work after her husband died in 2001.

Speaking to Montgomery Advertiser, she admits staying idle is not her thing. She loves to work and likes to keep busy all the time. That is why she stayed on to work at her Winn-Dixie even amid the coronavirus pandemic. The only other time she is idle is when she is asleep or sick.

“I guess it’s medicine for me,” Davis said about why she’s still working. “I love to be busy doing something. The only time I’m not busy, I’m sick or asleep.”

The hardworking shelf stacker celebrated her 100th birthday with her Winn-Dixie family in 2019 in grand style but last year, the virus didn’t permit that kind of bash that was held for her the previous year, neither did Hurricane Zeta make the situation any better. A drive-by celebration held for her last October turned into a humongous birthday card sitting in the grocer where shoppers and friends left messages for Davis.

Sharing her thoughts about the grant, Davis ‘praised’ the concept behind it, saying it will make a huge impact in the lives of others. Growing up Black during her time was far worse than now and according to her, some of the experiences were “detrimental and painful.”

Anthony Hucker, president and CEO of Southeastern Grocers, the parent company of Winn-Dixie, spoke about the decision to honor Davis in this way, saying, “As we celebrate Ms. Romay, we are moved by her unwavering dedication and strong work ethic, which inspires others to be their best.” 

The local grocer created a hashtag and a day for her, #RomayDavisDay, celebrating her in Montgomery Alabama.

Governor Kay Ivey Ivey offered a "sincere, heartfelt apology" for the "racist, segregationist rhetoric used by some of our leaders during that time." Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey apologized to Sarah Collins Rudolph, a survivor of a Ku Klux Klan bombing that left her severely injured and killed four Black girls, including her sister, in 1963.

In a letter sent to Collins Rudolph's lawyers, Ivey offered a "sincere, heartfelt apology" for the "racist, segregationist rhetoric used by some of our leaders during that time."

Ivey said there should be no question that Collins Rudolph, who was 12 when Klan members bombed 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham 57 years ago, and the four other girls "suffered an egregious injustice that has yielded untold pain and suffering over the ensuing decades."

Lawyers for Collins Rudolph had said in a letter to Ivey this month that, while hard-line segregationist officials like Gov. George Wallace didn't place the bomb next to the building, they played an "undisputed role in encouraging its citizens to engage in racial violence."

Collins Rudolph lost her right eye in the bombing. Glass fragments remained in her left eye, her abdomen and her chest for years after, according to The Associated Press.

Her sister, Addie Mae Collins, 14, was killed. So were Cynthia Wesley and Carole Robertson, also 14, and Denise McNair, 11.

"She has born the burdens of the bombing for virtually her entire life, and we believe her story presents an especially meritorious and unique opportunity for the State of Alabama to right the wrongs that its past leaders encouraged and incited," the letter to Ivey said.

The lawyers, who are from the Washington, D.C., firm Jenner & Block and are representing Collins Rudolph pro bono, had asked for an official apology as well as compensation.

Ivey's letter doesn't specifically address compensation, noting that the Legislature would have to be involved, and it says "other questions" raised by the lawyers will need to be reviewed.

"It would seem to me that beginning these conversations — without prejudice for what any final outcome might produce but with a goal of finding mutual accord — would be a natural extension of my administration's ongoing efforts to foster fruitful conversations" about race, Ivey said.

Rudolph Collins' lawyers, Ishan Bhabha and Alison Stein, said in a statement that they were "gratified" by the apology and that they looked forward to future talks about compensation.