Project H.O.O.D.’s “Walk Across America” fundraising campaign made a stop in Selma on Jan. 19 to feed 500 and walk across the Edmund Pettus Bridge.
The visit coincided with Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a national holiday honoring unity, progress and collective action. The day also featured the annual Stop the Violence rally at the Songs of Selma park with words of unity from speakers like Rev. Michael Bowen of Safe Haven Center who also prayed for the loss of Selma youth mentor Mark Myles in a shooting on Friday.
Speakers at the rally included Probate Judge Jimmy Nunn and state Sen. Robert Stewart, who mentioned legislative efforts to improve the economy like setting a minimum wage at $10 an hour. Cities with a better economy don’t see violence like Selma, he said.
Project HOOD leader Rev. Corey Brooks of New Beginnings Church of Chicago made the trek to Selma as part of their country-wide walk that started on Sept. 1 in New York City’s Times Square. After months on the road, organizers reached Selma on a day deeply rooted in the city’s civil rights history.
“We’re really excited to be here on such a historical day,” Brooks told the Black Belt News Network. “Today we get to walk across the Edmund Pettus Bridge, and I’m thankful to be here in the city of Selma and with the brothers and sisters who are already doing great work here. I just wanted to make a contribution.”
Project HOOD paid for ribs, pulled pork and chicken cooked by Tisdale’s Backyard BBQ to give out and DJ Barrack to provide music. Tommy and Latonia Tisdale started on the food at 3 a.m. Monday so it would be ready to give out to the masses at 1 p.m. at Selma Welcome Center.
The nationwide walk is raising $25 million to support projects in Chicago such as a community center and new Christian school. The organization aims to expand its model by planting Project H.O.O.D. initiatives in both urban and rural communities, focusing on neighborhoods and blocks working to make a comeback, Brooks said.
While in Selma, Brooks said collaboration is a key ingredient for lasting change.
“What I want to see in Selma specifically is collaboration,” Brooks said. “The better we can work together, the better off we’ll be. Too often across America, people aren’t collaborating. If I could add anything to help Selma, it would be to get everybody to work together, to come together, and put everything they’ve got into making Selma the best place it can possibly be.”
He added how important it was to be in Selma on MLK Day.
“This is the day we celebrate unity and the country coming together,” Brooks said. “It’s a wonderful day to be in Selma, a wonderful day to celebrate, and a wonderful day to walk across the Edmund Pettus Bridge.”
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