Meet Crystal

Birmingham City Councilor Crystal N. Smitherman, Esq. is Chair of the Budget and Finance Committee and a member of the Budget and Finance, Planning and Zoning, and Cultural Arts Committees.

Crystal is a child of Birmingham and proud product of Birmingham City Schools. Crystal grew up around and in the political world since both of her parents are politicians. She grew up with a servant’s heart and a calling to be a pillar in her community. Crystal attended Hampton University on a golf scholarship, where she obtained a Bachelors of Science in cellular and molecular biological sciences with a minor in leadership studies and graduated with honors in 2015. She has worked extensively as a Legal Intern for several law firms in the City of Birmingham and served as an Outreach Education Contractor for Girls Inc. and she has served on the Birmingham City Council since 2019..

Councilor Crystal N. Smitherman earned her Juris Doctorate Degree from the University of Alabama School of Law in 2019 and graduated from Hampton University with honors in 2015. She has worked extensively as a Legal Intern for several law firms in the City of Birmingham and served as an Outreach Education Contractor for Girls Inc. Councilor Smitherman was admitted to the Alabama State Bar in the fall of 2019. She currently practices with her father at Smitherman Law Office, LLC.

Coming from a strong lineage of public servants, Crystal has always looked up to her father, State Senator Roger Smitherman, and her mother, Judge Carole Smitherman. But being one of the youngest city councilors in Birmingham’s history, she brings her own brand of leadership to District 6.

As she likes to say, “My family has lived in Titusville for generations. Growing up, my siblings and I remember when West End and Titusville were vibrant communities. We would go to Leonard’s Bar BQ and Burger Hut to get my favorite pork chop dinner. We would go to Robert’s Cuisine for Sunday dinner. Entrepreneurs with locally-owned businesses served the community to include barbershops, car and shoe repair shops, and local meat markets. Growing up, you never had to leave inner-city Birmingham unless you were going out of town. There was hardly any crime. We would ride our bikes to the grocery store in the Heritage Town Center, and we would dribble our basketballs from our house to the park and play pick-up games until the streetlights came on.”

Now, when we walk out the door, we hear gunshots, trash is constantly present on the streets, and abandoned and fragile houses are on every corner. 

We’ve made a lot of progress, but we have a long way to go - Crystal is running for reelection because she believes that we can break these cycles, we can do better for District 6, and we WILL beat the odds and face the challenges our district is facing head-on.