Riverfront Brawl Sparks Cultural Moment

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Bystanders who trained their smartphone cameras on an Alabama riverfront dock, as several white boaters pummeled a Black riverboat co-captain, couldn’t have known the footage would elicit a national conversation about racial solidarity. But last weekend’s now-infamous brawl has truly tapped into the psyche of Black America and created a cultural moment. Many see the ordeal on the riverfront dock in Montgomery as a long-awaited answer to countless calls for help that went unanswered for past Black victims of violence and mob attacks. Alabama’s capital city is steeped in civil rights history, including being the first capital of the Confederacy.