After The Selma-To-Montgomery March: What’s Next?
Now that we’ve wrapped up the final leg of the Selma-to-Montgomery March… what’s next for Alabama? There are a lot of questions as to what the future will be of Selma, Montgomery, Alabama as a whole, now that the limelight is gone. But is it really gone? Some people beg to differ and say because of the 50th anniversary of the march, the future is now very bright. The marchers have reached the Alabama Capitol. People of all races — old and young — like 14-year-old Anaya Jackson. “I felt excited to know that I could something that people did a long time ago that we would’ve never did,” Said Jackson. But what happens when the crowd is gone? Will the Selma to Montgomery March simply be a memory? Senator Quinton Ross says throughout the last year of preparing for the events, there has also been much conversation on economic development improvements. “The conversation will turn into action. When we talk about things like economic development for the state of Alabama, not just in certain parts of the state, but all over… in Selma, throughout the blackbelt region… I think that those topics in conversation are what our action items are as we move forward,” Said Senator Ross. For one group “moving forward” not only means financially. The Reconciled church, a group made of Christian leaders across the nation, met with several pastors across Montgomery At Fresh Anointing International Church to talk to the community about developing a set of actions to help bridge the road towards a better Montgomery and Alabama. “There are two main areas we’re focusing on. One area is criminal justice reform. We’ve got to do something about the criminal justice system,” Said Fresh Anointing International Church Pastor, Kyle Searcy. He’s one of the pastors in Montgomery committing to the new movement. “We also have an idea on the table called Youth City, which is a massive youth center that has all the entertainment, the bells and whistles, wverything our community needs is in that place. The ultimate goal is that for all of those who attended the service will go back to their home towns and take back what they’ve learned to make a national movement.
