The Selma-Dallas County Friends of the Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail will resume the Courageous Free Thinkers Celebration, its series of events to commemorate Bloody Sunday.
Annually held at the Ebenezer Missionary Baptist Church in Selma, The Courageous Free Thinkers Celebration is a series of speaker panels and programs honoring the “Courageous Eight”—eight voting rights activists who led the Dallas County Voters League in Selma during the voting rights movement: Amelia Boynton-Robinson, Marie Foster, Rev. Henry Shannon, Earnest Doyle, James Gildersleeve, Ulysses Blackmon, J. D. Hunter, and Frederick D. Reese.
Minister and educator Rev. F.D. Reese presided over the congregation of Ebenzer Baptist Church for 50 years. The recently re-elected James Perkins Jr., who became the first Black mayor of Selma in 2000, is the current pastor of Ebenezer Missionary Baptist Church.
Now in its seventh year, the mission of the Courageous Free Thinkers Celebration is two-fold: to honor the Courageous Eight and challenge the community to have thought-provoking discussions, often based on current events in Selma.
The theme of this year’s celebration is Selma: Opportunity and Invitation.
“This topic opens the doors for discussion of opportunities for solutions in a post-COVID and post-tornado-struck Selma,” organizers of the celebration said in a press release. “Specifically, the organization is looking to explore the relationships between Latin American and African American communities as an opportunity to contribute to Selma’s solution.”
On Jan. 12, an EF-2 tornado stuck Selma, leaving a large swath of damage in its path. The tornado had a path width of 800 yards and an estimated peak wind speed of 130 mph, according to a storm survey conducted by the National Weather Service forecast office in Birmingham.
The Courageous Free Thinkers Celebration will commence on Saturday, March 4, and conclude on Sunday, March 5. The weekend will be divided into a…
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