The Civil Rights Flag was created by Rev. Dr. Calvin W. Woods, Jr. on May 11, 2006 of New Orleans, Louisiana while he was living in Birmingham, Alabama because of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The flag is symbolic of the Civil Rights Movements in the United Sates of America and around the world. Its theme is “Freedom, Justice, and Equality.” It is copyrighted and it is a registered trademark of Amazing Grace Enterprise, Inc. When Hurricane Katrina, the broken levies, and the flood waters destroyed 80 percent of New Orleans, my home and church (Greater Liberty Baptist Church) were impacted. My family and I lost our home, but we were not homeless. We traveled to Alabama where our families in Birmingham, Bessemer, Anniston, Tuscaloosa, and Gadsden opened up their hearts, houses, and resources and helped us to survive. While I was in Birmingham, the Sixth Avenue Baptist Church gave my family and me a house to live in until we returned to New Orleans. I visited the Civil Rights Institute and reflected on the past, present, and future of our civil rights. My family has been involved in civil rights movement all of my life. My uncle, Dr. Abraham Woods, Jr. is the past president of the SCLC and now, my father, Dr. Calvin W. Woods, Sr. is the new president. After the tour, while I was driving home it was revealed to me by God that we did not have a Civil Rights flag. I became so excited because I was chosen to design this historic flag. I prayed for wisdom and He showed me in a vision Rosa Parks, the seamstress, sewing the Civil Rights flag. The picture of the flag that she showed me had a black eagle in the upper left hand corner and he was carrying the red scales of justice in his claws behind a white field. There were eight bars with the colors red, yellow, black, and white being repeated twice. Then I saw twelve stars with the same colors (red, yellow, black, and white) being repeated three times with a total of 12 stars. In between these stars were the words freedom, justice, and equality. This was the picture of the flag that I saw. It was beautiful! I smiled at Mrs. Parks and said, “Thank you.” She said, “You are welcome.”
And from that time on, I have created the flag, books, song, and other items related to the flag.