So much has happened in Selma in so little time.

The week kicked off with a visit from the “Selma” movie crew, including producer Oprah Winfrey. Film director Ava DuVernay even presented a $75,000 check to Selma High School on behalf of Paramount.

Then the community got a double-dose of excitement Tuesday when we learned U.S. President Barack Obama is scheduled to visit Selma March 7 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of historic civil rights marches across the state and saw Selma civil rights activist Amelia Boynton Robinson at the State of the Union address.

And with the 50th anniversary of Blood Sunday arriving in March, the community has even more to look forward to here in Selma.

These exciting times should serve as a reminder to how unique this city truly is and we should appreciate that we are special enough to attract so many prominent people and the general public with our strong civil rights history.

Like any other city, Selma has its issues. We have areas where we need to improve, such as our unity, but we have much to be proud about.

It’s easy to take pride in the area and value all it has to offer when we’re gaining more national attention than normal and attracting Hollywood stars and the leader of the free world, but some struggle to be as proud at other times. That shouldn’t be the case.

We have plenty to celebrate every day we live in a city populated with individuals who sacrificed so much to ensure that everyone has the right to vote, an action that decides the leaders and ultimately the future of our nation.

Not everyone has the privilege of saying they personally know Rev. Frederick D. Reese, the organizer of the 1965 teachers march; became friends with Bloody Sunday marcher Amelia Boynton; once held a conversation with Jean Jackson, the woman who shared her home with civil rights pioneers planning the 1965 march to Montgomery; or walked along the famous Edmund Pettus Bridge where so many were brave enough to march in the name of equality, even after they were severally beaten by law enforcement during the first attempt.  Those are experiences so many here have been privileged and blessed enough to have. We should even take more advantage of being faced with history and hearing the personal stories the older generation has to tell about their account of those historical events.

So, I want the community to continue to embrace Selma when the excitement surrounding the big anniversaries die down and the thousands of visitors expected to crowd the streets leave.