My Second Year Walking the Edmund Pettus Bridge

On March 7th, 1965, a crowd of civil rights marchers (led by John Lewis and Hosea Williams) walked over the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama. There, they were met by a sea of men in blue who beat them with billy clubs, chased them on horseback and temporarily blinded them with tear gas.

The day became known as Bloody Sunday and it brought national attention and support to the Voting Rights Movement.

Today, I joined the 44th annual celebration of the day that precipitated the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Two years ago, Barack Obama spoke at Brown Chapel. Last year, t-shirts promoted his candidacy.

This year, t-shirts celebrated the election of America's 44th president.

Police Academy--Week One

Kelly came home from week one at Police Academy with swollen cheeks. She smiled through her busted lip as she described her first-ever boxing match. On the first solid punch her partner landed, she saw stars.

She also described what she'd been learning. The lessons on how to turn and salute were secondary to the lessons on teamwork and sacrifice. She described the oath of an officer and how it doesn't allow for selfishness and individualism. She understands.

She also smiled because she was finding out that she really does have what it takes to get through this. The moxie. The chutzpah. The stuff. Not just to get through it, as it turns out, but to lead the way as the Guide On--the one who carries the flag at the head of the group. One of her superiors told her she was chosen for a reason.

I'm not there to watch her at the academy, but I see her diligence at home. What I see is that she understands that true leadership is sacrificing self for the team.

To serve and protect while others wait to be served and protected.

Third Annual Martin Luther King Celebration

At the Third Annual Martin Luther King Celebration, the Freedom Foundation honored several Selma community members with lifetime achievement, courage and youth awards.

In preparation, I interviewed two of the recipients: Jean Martin and Annie Cooper.

Annie Cooper was a foot soldier of the Civil Rights Movement. A photo of Ms. Cooper's struggle with four officers, including Sheriff Jim Clark, ran in the New York Times on January 26th, 1965 and provoked national sympathy and support for the voting rights struggle.

Jean Martin is a true public servant. She has demonstrated a commitment to doing what she believes is right, no matter what the cost.

I had the opportunity to chat, look through family photos and reminisce with these two special women. And though my official reasons have ended, I'll continue visiting my new friends.

I was happier to hold the flowers for these two special women and to sit backstage, unable to hear much of the program, than I would have been to present an Oscar for best actor or to sit at the 50-yard line at the Super Bowl. These aren't heroes of entertainment or of physical strength—they are heroes of courage.

One young man who once said he was "too poor and too black" to go to college, gave a speech that started with, "I know what it's like not to have running water. I know what it's like to be made fun of for old, dirty clothes" and crescendoed with the proclamation that he has been accepted to Samford University. He ended with a challenge to the youth and his final words brought the audience to its feet: "Yes we can."

As one of the 40 plus choir members, I wasn't there to showcase my beautiful voice (it's not) or to be seen (I feel awkward on stage). I was there for one purpose: to sing my heart out for the award recipients and for the crowd that gathered to honor them.

Though the night was long, I left filled with energy and stayed up discussing the highlights of the evening and laughing with friends.

When I finally crawled into bed, I fell asleep with a companion I cherish—contentment.

Air and Simple Gifts

I am sitting in the Interpretive Center--a museum that celebrates the struggle for, and the eventual passing of, the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The museum sits about halfway between Selma and Montgomery, Alabama--on the road that paved Obama's road to office.

I sit with 150 high school students and a handful of their teachers. The room is silent except sniffles and cheers.

The handful of remaining people are the foot soldiers of the movement, volunteers from the Freedom Foundation, park rangers, reporters and producers.

Today, Barack Obama holds the attention of each of them.

When it is dark enough, you can see the stars. --Persian proverb

Cynthia Gibson, the subject of Monday's sonnet, wrote an article for Teaching Tolerance called Lies Our Students Tell Themselves.

Check it out for an example of one of my favorite qualities about Cynthia: hope.

Selma Community Chorus

I'm not exactly a natural singer or hip hopper. So I was already feeling out of my element when I showed up for Selma Community Chorus on Thursday. The group will perform for the Third Annual Dr. King Celebration. I let the sign-up sheet go right past me the first time, thinking maybe I'd just slip out if it got a little too far past my comfort zone.

Then I heard that there would be choreography too. Yep, dancing AND singing. I almost knocked over the metal chairs as I stumbled for the exit. Fortunately, I remembered from previous experience with the director, Amanda, that she is much more interested in heart and attitude than in perfect pitch. That stopped me from walking out the door. That, and Kim's iron grip on my arm. Kim helped me find the notes and I finally signed my name to the sheet.

No matter what the song, Amanda stomps, jumps, sways and closes her eyes as she feels the music. She sets the example and swears that if we'll just commit to the note, the dance move, the emotion and power of the moment, we'll look right doing it (even if we're wrong). Not just right, but good actually.

I figured if I was going to be there, I may as well follow the director's direction. So I sang and stomped and closed my eyes when I felt the harmony.

And I showed up for practice again today.

Bad Boys, Bad Boys

Today, my friend Kelly was sworn in as an officer for the Selma Police Department. For months, she's endured physical and psychological tests, panel reviews, interviews and a background check. Though she's always dreamed of serving and protecting, she wasn't sure she had the discipline.

Last May, she stopped dreaming and started doing. Though there have been discouraging days, she's continued. She regularly rises at 5 am to go to the gym, she installed a pull-up bar in her closet and she watches her fair share of **Cops. When she brought her first target home from the firing range, it was riddled with holes in all the right places. Kel's got some aim, y'all!

She's even gotten a little practice with handcuffing....me. When I asked if she wanted me to struggle, she threatened to pull out her baton so I contented myself by singing, "Bad boys, bad boys. Whacha gonna do..."

**I'd issue myself a grammar citation for not underlining Cops, but this site won't let me underline.

Cornelia Wallace and Annie Cooper

I was rifling through family photos and old newspaper articles with Ms. Annie Cooper when breaking news came on in the background: Cornelia Wallace died today. Cornelia was the second wife of former Alabama governor, George Wallace. Wallace delivered his most famous line at his inauguration in 1963: "In the name of the greatest people that have ever trod this earth, I draw the line in the dust and toss the gauntlet before the feet of tyranny, and I say segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever."

To whom he was referring as "the greatest people" is left up for interpretation, but I don't believe he was referring to Ms. Annie Cooper and the other African Americans who stood in voter registration lines in 1965.

A large mounted copy of the Selma Times Journal article that describes the confrontation between Ms. Cooper and another staunch segregationist, Jim Clark, sat on the table in front of us as we visited.

Ms. Cooper paid the newscast little mind and went on pointing out her children, nieces and nephews.

Pick Me! Pick Me!

Today, I wrote an essay about why Obama should choose me as one of the ten regular folks to attend his swearing in. The only trouble was narrowing it down!

A year and a half ago, it would have been a much shorter essay (if I'd even written it in the first place)!

For more on this subject, check out my previous posts--A Historic City, A Historic Vote and Buzzwords Blog on Hope and Change.

If I am selected, you'll be seeing some very interesting material on this here site. If I'm not, you'll still see interesting material. Either way--check back often!

P.S. I'm going to let you in on one of my favorite language tricks: when you're not sure how to spell a word and you're publishing/emailing from a mobile device, find an alternative (like "swearing-in" instead of inauguration). Did I get that right?

Road Trippin'

*One "party bus" (a rockin' minivan)
*One rainstorm
*One stinkin' skunk
*One photo with a four-year-old's head on Superman's body
*One diner
*One slice of cheesecake at diner
*A missing left slipper
*A handful of photos in a pickle costume (also at diner)
*Two kids under five
*Two quick stops so the 4 year old could "make a fountain" on the side of the road
*Four adults
*Five cans/bottles/cups of soda
*Six animated movies
*Seven scoops of gelato
*Eight cups of coffee
*Nine meltdowns for the children under five (with increasing frequency towards the 27th hour)
*A handful of near meltdowns for the adults over 25
*Ten+ full stops (I lost count)
*11 major highways
*12 bags of chips, cookies, fruit snacks, and rainbow goldfish
*1,400 miles
*And 27 hours

To home.

The Teppers Building in Selma, Alabama: A Diamond in the Rough

Something special is happening on 25 Broad St. For the past year, volunteers of the Freedom Foundation have made tremendous steps forward in stabilizing, restoring and updating the Tepper’s Building, a historic landmark in Selma, Alabama. The first week of September, 2008 was labeled among volunteers as a “Tepper’s Push” because many took time off their jobs and even traveled from out of state at their own expense to join the work effort.

A.J. Page, the architect for the project, described some of the recent architectural efforts which include exposing the original structure on the first two floors and removing the non load-bearing exterior façade. In addition to this visible progress, Page also led a team in exposing load-bearing beams and columns for structural analysis.

A team of local painters worked day and night to brighten up the exterior with a fresh coat of paint. Inside the building, the gutting and cleaning continues, a tedious but necessary part of preparing the building to house the “Fresh Start Café” and the Youth Leadership Institute.

Though the Freedom Foundation has run into many obstacles along the way due to weather and extensive water and Termite damage in the building, the vision for a fresh start for the building and the community has remained strong and encouraged people to continue through difficult news and daunting tasks. Despite the many challenges, volunteers continue to show up on their evenings and weekends to pitch in.

People with little to no construction experience have put their backs and hearts into the demolition work. One notable volunteer, who is wheelchair bound, could be seen at the work site stripping copper wires for recycling. Her inspiration and smile gave other volunteers a morale boost. Perhaps this is one of the reasons why Roger Hendershot, one of the leaders on the project, was much more interested in talking about the people at Tepper’s than about the physical progress: “There is something to be said about what’s happening among the people working at Tepper’s. There is something special as we all offer our time and efforts in a spirit of charity.” That spirit shines through with Ms. Debra as she strips those wires and with many others who encourage each other, smile and laugh as they labor in a filthy and hot environment.


One day during this “Tepper’s Push,” I was busy exposing a termite-damaged beam for architectural review. I was wearily chipping away at it and wiping sweat from my eyes when Matt Skelton approached me. Skelton, who volunteers when he is not wearing blue for the Selma PD, is known for his cheerfulness and energy which shine through even difficult labor and long hours. He had come to give me a “present.” I was immediately suspicious, just as I would have been if one of my big brothers had done the same. When he handed me a lump of coal, I laughed and chucked it back at him. I moved on, but Matt was trying to tell me something.

I finished my shift and returned home for the kind of satisfying shower, meal and nap that can only come after a day of hard physical labor. Hours later, Matt showed up at my door, dirtier than when I had left him and no doubt tired and hungry, but with a bigger smile on his face too. He told me I’d forgotten something and handed me the lump of coal.

Enough pressure, time, and heat can turn something ugly into something beautiful if it stays in the process. Yes, Matt, I get what you’re saying and I believe.

Buzzwords Blog on Change and Hope

The word change is all around us—on bumper stickers, t-shirts and in stirring speeches. But for Freedom Foundation volunteers, it is more than just something we say—it is something we make. We’ve created change every day for the last two years in Selma, Alabama—the same Selma where Civil Rights workers and foot soldiers created a new future by marching for the right to vote. Though legislative changes are clear and powerful; opportunity, prosperity, and unity still elude this rural city in the Deep South. It is hard to imagine that a town with such a rich history could still have a segregated country club and segregated schools and churches. But in Selma, it is a reality. Neo-confederate hate groups are deeply rooted in the community. Over half of the families in Selma’s Dallas County made less than $30,000 in 2006 and the county has the second highest teenage pregnancy rate in the state. Change is still needed in Selma, Alabama.

Hope drove marchers to face a sea of men in blue uniforms on Bloody Sunday. And they changed the future forever. Change is happening in Selma through hope, one life at a time. Hope isn’t just a word that we use carelessly. It is what drives volunteers to serve the community. Freedom Foundation volunteers have painted local classrooms, playground equipment and churches. They’ve volunteered countless hours to labor in the Tepper’s building, working in hope at a future youth institute and community center. The hours are long and the labor is hard.

But ask the young people who have been changed by their involvement in the youth activities with the Freedom Foundation if the work has been in vain. Ask the local high school senior who recently received his acceptance letter to Samford University, when just over a year ago he said he was “too poor and too black” to go to college.

Hope is that still small voice that rises above cynicism and tells you that change is possible, that we CAN make a difference. Yes, we can. And at the Freedom Foundation, we do. Hope is what inspires our volunteers to give, serve, love and sacrifice. And, as Obama said, “There is nothing false about hope.”

Freedom Foundation Paints Selma One Wall at a Time

With Christmas tunes on their lips and paintbrushes in their hands, Freedom Foundation volunteers recently took on their sixth painting project for the Selma community.

Painters included amateurs from Keith and Selma High, and Terry Armstrong, a veteran painter who has painted more homes, classrooms, and churches than she can count.

Volunteers of all ages and singing abilities sang Christmas tunes and harmonized on Bob Marley as they stood on desks, chairs and the occasional ladder to reach the tops of the walls. Some cut in around the edges and some refilled paint trays and water bottles to keep the operation running smoothly. “It was good to see all the volunteers working together" Armstrong said.

Armstrong added, "It does my heart good to know that the Freedom Foundation is doing these kinds of projects for the kids. Most of the schools are in dire conditions from a visual standpoint." In a time of cutbacks in education budgets, aesthetic projects like these often go overlooked even though studies show a link between a positive school environment and better test scores.

Whether their scores go up or not, Armstrong is "excited the students will come back from Christmas break to the smell of fresh paint.”

Mark Duke, president of the Foundation, said, “People talk a lot about the condition of the schools. It’s important to get out there and improve them when the opportunity comes up.”