The Spirit of Selma

Over the break my husband and I saw the movie “Selma” at a local theater. While I knew something of the background of this monumental chapter of the civil rights movement, watching a reenactment of that fateful Sunday in March of 1965 was very disturbing. As I watched hundreds of courageous men and women march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge from Selma to Montgomery to demand the right to vote for all people, I tried to imagine what it must have felt like. What kind of inner strength enables an individual to move forward, putting one foot in front of the other, knowing the perils that undoubtedly awaited on the other side from opponents to equality who have demonized you and wish nothing more than to destroy you and all that you stand for?

This week I heard an interview with Congressman John Lewis from Georgia who marched alongside Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on that fateful day, now known as “Bloody Sunday.” Forty-nine years later the painful memories of that march are still emblazoned in his mind and heart. “We were beaten, tear gassed, trampled and chased by men on horseback, …Many of us accepted the way of non-violence as a way of life, as a way of living. We were willing to be arrested, to be jailed. We accepted the beatings. And we never gave up.”

In an age when we are overwhelmed by stories and images of violence in our neighborhoods, on our campuses, in shopping malls and on battle fields far away, the power of non-violence can be overshadowed and even forgotten. How grateful I am that at least one day a year we are reminded of a man and of a movement that refused to believe violence was the only way to adequately address injustice and oppression. An entire community of people banded together in non-violent solidarity and bravely marched forward, willing to risk injury and even death rather than to inflict harm on those who attacked them. They knew in their hearts, having studied the work of people like Gandhi and Thoreau, that social change was possible through non-violent struggle, and they never gave up.

If women and men, young and old, were willing to march and even willing to die in order that their brothers and sisters could live with dignity and equality, then can’t the rest of us consider acting with courage ourselves? Here are just a few ways we might consider carrying on the spirit of the Selma in our own lives:
• Cultivating a non-violent spirit within ourselves by quiet reflection and self-examination of our own prejudices and fears, biases and judgments
• Intentionally choosing to relate honestly and lovingly with people different from ourselves whether by race, religion, culture, or gender orientation
• Advocating for legislative policies locally and nationally that will ensure all people have equal access to basic necessities such as food and shelter, healthcare, and educational opportunities
• Volunteering our time and energy with organizations that work to support the well-being and empowerment of those groups who are marginalized and disenfranchised.

May the memory of the courageous marchers from Selma to Montgomery serve to inspire each of us to take our own baby steps forward in non-violent solidarity on a pathway to peace.

Peace, Anne