Eighty people stand in a circle outside a church in Northport. Arms crossed, hands clasped. Latino, black, white. Invited to share their vision for a beautiful Alabama, voices ring out.   Dignity, dignidad.   Life without fear, vivir sin miedo. Peace, faith,  strength to stay in the struggle.  Repeal of HB 56. No more tearing families apart.  A multicultural, multilingual Alabama. The ability to lead our people. Courage, valor.

People who daily are labeled illegal are now labeled Leaders.

People who’ve been told time and again it’s time to leave know now it’s time to lead.

People who’ve been told to move know now it’s time for a movement.

Men in work shirts, university professors, mothers and grandmothers, college students, civil rights icons, teenagers and children, all calling out their vision for a beautiful Alabama. In a moment of quiet, a Latina child calls out, Roll Tide! Everyone laughs, but I think we all feel the painful irony. That’s just how deeply rooted in Alabama our immigrant neighbors are, and yet the intent of Alabama’s new immigration law is to force them to leave or to live here in fear.

Roll Tide? Oh yes, the tide is turning in Alabama, and it will not be turned back.   We are One family, One Alabama. Brown, black and white, in Alabama, of all places. HB56 is bringing us together. It’s a miracle. The kingdom of God is at hand.  God is doing a new thing, can you not behold it?  Thanks be to God.  Gracias a Dios.

-Rev. Angie, 2013