Eye-opening. Today was without a doubt the most eye-opening day of the trip so far. We crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge in order to enter Selma. This is the same bridge that Bloody Sunday occurred on about 49 years ago, and to be whole-heartedly honest I was not prepared for the place we entered on the other side of that bridge. I was utterly shocked by the amount of poverty and racial segregation that still exists in Selma to this very day and as we were driving around, I felt as though I was stepping back in time, back to the pre Civil Rights Movement era. As we were touring around Selma, I also could not help but notice the words written on the water tower for all to see: “Selma is a Nice Place to Live” and then wonder how on Earth could this be a nice place to live with the high crime and murder rates? In fact, there were three murders within one week in Selma and now many lawns feature signs saying, “NO MORE” in reference to no more murders. My viewpoint of Selma definitely changed by the end of the day through learning the rich history of the city itself and meeting some inhabitants of the city as well. In fact, I would be proven wrong, very wrong about my original assumptions that Selma is not a nice place to live.
Upon entering Selma, we learned about the Freedom Foundation, a truly remarkable organization that is comprised of all volunteers with the common goal of helping kids facing hardships to overcome them. That night we had the true privilege to preview a documentary entitled, “I Will Dance,” in essence following the story of three members of RATCo, a theatre-based program based within the Freedom Foundation in Selma. The documentary showcases how they all have overcome true adversity through the influence of RATCo in their lives. Each member has their own story, stories of hardship, abuse and hopelessness. Before dinner that night I also had the opportunity to help Shayana, a member of RATCo with her solar system project for her fifth grade science class. Shayana was the first black student in Selma to attend an all white private school back in Kindergarten. I really enjoyed chatting with Shayana and found her maturity level and conversational skills to be very impressive. That night I also had the chance to talk to many other inhabitants of Selma, people of all races, ages and genders and through these conversations, I heard each person’s story of their life in Selma and the change that they are trying to enact in Selma. Selma is a city with such rich history and truly remarkable people that are committed to change, change that will make life better for future generations to come. Selma is in fact a nice place to live.
As the Freedom Foundation says: “I Will…Dance, Dream, Live, Believe, Hope, Run, Love and Rise.”