Selma has been on my mind lately. With the passing of John Lewis, my social media feed has been flooded with photos of him standing at the foot of the Edmund Pettus Bridge, stories of his constant bravery and even videos of him dancing or crowd surfing. We have lost a legend. And my mind returns to Selma and the power of song.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On March 5, 2000, I brought a group of junior high school students on a service trip to participate in the 35th Anniversary Commemorative Selma March. We slept on the floor of a church whose members provided real Southern hospitality with a great breakfast of grits and biscuits. We helped out behind the scenes, cleaned the streets and went to as many events as we could.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
During the rally Congressman Lewis, Coretta Scott King, and the Reverend Jesse Jackson were joined by then President Bill Clinton for remarks. As we listened to them speak in the hot sun, we were reminded of the bridges that have been crossed and those that still lay before us. Clinton spoke of the poverty, injustice, police brutality and education and health disparities that still fall along the color line. He mentioned that we still have bridges to cross.<\/p>\n\n\n\n