Every community has conflict.

The crowd sat mesmerized at the words that had just been flashed up upon a projection screen at the Carl Morgan Convention Center. Selma Mayor James Perkins Jr. looked up from the laptop computer he was operating and pointed to them.

Conflict resolution in the community was the subject of a meeting Perkins held with members of city government and the community on Thursday evening.

The Selma Plan, as it will be called, will help bring the community together to plan for the city’s future without having past issues plague them.

So, what is this baggage? The wishes and desires of different groups of people, such as achievement or gaining justice or mercy.

There is also the problem of people refusing to accept the truth because they don’t know it, fearing the truth about things or simply will not accept it.

Because people live in a community, Perkins went on to say, conflict will exist because that is only natural. &uot;What we forget sometimes is that Selma is a community,&uot; he said.

Trying to shed the issues of Selma’s past has led to the plan, which will form the Selma Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

First, outside faciliators will be brought in. Then, citizens will volunteer participate to undergo training. There will also be people from different groups such as churches, businesses and non-profit organizations doing the training. Then, the trained citizens will be eligible to sit on the Truth and Reconciliation committee.