Johnny Robinson was shot and killed by Birmingham police during the rioting and unrest that followed the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church on September 15, 1963. He was only 16. In light of new evidence regarding the case and the bombing’s anniversary, NPR recently revisited the moments leading up to and immediately following Johnny’s death, which were all but forgotten in the annals of civil rights history. (Read the story.) (1)

The violent death of a child is almost unthinkable. But for Birmingham’s black community, which lost at least six children in one day, the pain was unbearable. On the same day Johnny Robinson was killed, Virgil Ware (2) was shot by 16-year-old white boy named Larry Joe Sims while riding his bike. And four black girls (3) died in the bombing of the most prominent church in the black community: Cynthia Wesler, Carole Robertson, and Addie Mae Collins were 14 and Denise McNair was 11.

The girls’ deaths “shocked the nation and galvanized the civil rights movement.” (4)

It was a turning point in America’s history. And yet Johnny Robinson’s death received little media attention or notice in the community, outside of his friends and family.

According to NPR’s report, even the boy’s family barely spoke of him in the 47 years since his death. This is not uncommon. Silence envelops the deaths of many victims, especially in communities disproportionately burdened by violence.

Johnny’s story continues today, in the lives of the many young black men lost to violence.

According to the CDC’s 2010 data:

• Homicide is the leading cause of death for 10 to 24 year old African Americans.
• Homicide rates among African American males ages 10 to 24 is significantly higher than other racial groups. (See table below.) (5)

The circumstances surrounding these deaths may have changed, but the damage to the black community—the loss of potential and hope—has not.

Until we reach the time when no child, regardless of color, is lost to violence, we should remember every victim, not as a statistic, but as the sum of too few years experience. I thank NPR for remembering Johnny Robinson, so long after he was lost.

Homicide Rates for 10 to 24 Year Old Males (5)

1 “Johnny’s Death: The Untold Tragedy In Birmingham” by Carrie Johnson. National Public Radio. September 15, 2010.

2 “The Legacy Of Virgil Ware” by Tim Padgett and Frank Sikora. Time Magazine. September 22, 2003.

3 “16th Street Baptist Church Bombing: Forty Years Later, Birmingham Still Struggles with Violent Past.” National Public Radio. September 15, 2003.

⁴ The National Park Service. We Shall Overcome: Historic Places of the Civil Rights Movement.