SELMA, Ala.— In contrast to several federal agencies halting Black History Month and other civil rights observances over DEI concerns, a group of high school students from Selma, Alabama, is calling attention to the challenges that still persist sixty years after the 1965 Bloody Sunday march.
Despite its place in history, Selma is Alabama’s fastest-shrinking city, often overlooked outside the annual tributes to the Selma-to-Montgomery Voting Rights March. Determined to change that, the Selma students are drawing inspiration from the original Selma community organizers—many of whom were teenagers in 1965—to push for change in their hometown.
The students have partnered with the acclaimed Boston performing arts company, beheard.world, to create Selma Again, a production that reflects their experiences growing up in the shadow of Selma’s civil rights legacy and their hopes for a better future. Beheard.world is a racially diverse collection of performing artists, filmmakers, and educators committed to utilizing the arts to combat racism and advance social justice.
Each act aims to pay tribute to the unsung high school heroes of the Selma Movement in the 1960s and raise awareness about new efforts to support teens and families living in Selma. It features spoken word artists, hip hop dancers, and singers. As America continues to grapple with its history of racial injustice and seeks paths toward healing, Selma Again is a poignant reminder of the progress made—and the work that remains. The group unveiled the production during last year’s annual Bridge Crossing Jubilee weekend. Many of the students from last year’s production are reprising their roles. Watch highlights from the 2024 production here.
This year, the beheard.world troupe and students are performing Selma Again not only in Selma during Jubilee weekend on Saturday, March 8 at 7:30 p.m., but also at the Morehouse College’s historic Ray Charles Performing Arts Center in Atlanta on Friday, March 7 at 7:30 p.m.
At the Atlanta performance, the students will also honor seven Civil Rights luminaries for their leadership and lifelong commitment to justice:
- Ambassador Andrew Young
- Dr. Charles Steele, Jr. – Former President & CEO, Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC)
- Bernard Lafayette – Former Chief of Staff to Martin Luther King Jr. and leader in the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC)
- Faya Rose Sanders – Attorney and Selma activist
- Charles Bonner – Former student leader in Selma and renowned Civil Rights attorney
- Annie Pearl Avery – Selma Bridge Crossing foot soldier and activist
- Lynda Blackmon Lowery – Author and the youngest marcher in the 1965 Voting Rights Bloody Sunday march
- The Selma collaboration is part of a new nonprofit initiative, the Selma Cross-Cultural Nonviolence & Performing Arts
- Academy, founded by Dallas County native, Selma Movement organizer, and Bloody Sunday foot soldier Charles
- Bonner and Viola Douglass; Reverend Gary Crum of the Elwood Christian Church; and beheard.world co-directors,
- Anna Myer and Jay Paris. The Academy is dedicated to promoting nonviolence and the advancement of peace and healing through the performing arts and filmmaking.
2025 Selma Again Performance Schedule:
Atlanta, Georgia:
Friday, March 7, 2025 at 7:30 PM
Ray Charles Performing Arts Center, Morehouse College
900 West End Avenue
Atlanta, Georgia 30310
Selma, Alabama:
Saturday, March 8, 2025 @ 7:30 PM
Ellwood Christian Academy
1 Bell Road
Selma, Alabama 36701
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