Two major news stories broke in the city of Birmingham this weekend. On Friday, it was announced the city is on track for a record-breaking number of homicides. Meanwhile, on Saturday, the mayor announced that he had written his memoir, "Son of Birmingham," which will be released on Jan. 21, 2025.
The announcement is somewhat surprising given the time constraints the mayor apparently had on him in 2024. Between trips to D.C. for photo ops, campaigning for his third term, and looking for a new chief of police, Woodfin had lots to juggle while trying to prioritize his city's needs.
Candidates were allowed to begin raising money on August 26, and within five days, the mayor reportedly raised over $333,352, according to The Birmingham Times.
Weeks later, following a mass shooting in which four people were killed and 17 wounded, Woodfin released a video on Facebook promising, "My attention, our attention, needs to be squarely focused on the very, very real work taking place in our community." He said, "My primary goal right now is being a support system for a city that's in immense pain."
However, Birmingham wasn't and hasn't been Woodfin's singular focus.
Just weeks later, Woodfin posted a picture of Kamala Harris and Tim Walz, "Let's Hit the Road for Democracy! Join Us for a Canvass in Georgia."
The memoir, co-written by Woodfin and his deputy communications director, Edward Bowser, was announced on the mayor's Facebook page less than 24 hours after media outlets reported three Birmingham shootings in three hours that left three dead, one in critical condition.
"Magic City nears tragic milestone," AL(dot) com's Carol Robinson wrote last week.
The milestone that Birmingham is near reaching? The city has tied its 2022 murder rate, and with a current average of a new homicide nearly every two days, it may reach the most ever recorded.
According to Robinson, before the 2022 record, "the highest number recorded in recent memory was 141 in 1991." These numbers are devastatingly close to the all-time record for homicides, which the article notes was reported in 1933 with 148 killings.
As 1819 News previously reported, Birmingham's police chief will retire this week, with his last day being November 29.
While gang-related, drug-related and retaliatory violence has exploded under Woodfin's tenure, his "leadership" on the issue is highlighted as one of his book's selling points.
"A moving memoir of a young leader's perseverance in a city still battling racism and gun violence, which Woodfin experienced first-hand, Son of Birmingham is also a call-to-action across America—an appeal to Woodfin's unique brand of servant leadership and responsive governemnt [sic] for equitable, inclusive, and prosperous cities where everyone has the opportunity to reach their full potential," an Amazon synopsis of the book said.
State and local leaders from both political parties have questioned Woodfin's leadership since at least 2019.
In what has turned out to be a prophetic recommendation that would have shown true leadership skills by Woodfin, Birmingham City Councilor Steven Hoyt suggested in 2019 that the city needed additional support. He suggested that Woodfin wasn't in control and that his plans for the security of residents weren't working.
"Growing up, my mother told me if you don't know how to do something, ask somebody. Get some help. If the governor can't get things in order, she calls the president. Maybe we need to call the National Guard in here to help us control this city."
In September, State Rep. Juandalynn Givan (D-Birmingham) gave her views on Woodfin's leadership in an interview with 1819 News, saying, "You're a little boy in a big job, and I meant what I said. Listen, I can only speak to the city of Birmingham where I am. It's a crisis everywhere. First of all, you have to have leadership that's going to listen. You can't have a mayor that says they are progressive, that ran on a progressive ticket but they are not doing anything that is progressive. You don't see the progression in the city of Birmingham."
The description of Birmingham from Woodfin's publisher paints a very different picture than recent crime statistics or his detractors indicate, in their words, "Today's Birmingham—led by Mayor Randall Woodfin—is a phoenix rising from the ashes of systemic racism and white flight." Going on to describe the city as "a living, breathing redemption story."
One has to wonder what the families of the 151 dead think of their mayor taking a victory lap celebrating his service to the city while selling the city's redemption story as they spend their holidays with empty chairs at their dinner table.
Apryl Marie Fogel is a Birmingham resident who frequently appears on and guest hosts radio programs around the state. She can be reached at aprylmarie@altoday.com or on X and Facebook at @aprylmarie.
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