Son of Birmingham: A Memoir

Today's Birmingham-led by Mayor Randall Woodfin-is a phoenix rising from the ashes of systemic racism and white flight.

This first Southern city to pluck the feathers off Jim Crow, where peaceful protesters endured attacks by police dogs, where high-pressure water hoses tore at the flesh of men and women marching for their rights, and where children locked arms and sang "We Shall Overcome," is a living, breathing redemption story.

In Son of Birmingham, Woodfin draws upon the street wisdom o...