There’s just something about walking over the Edmund Pettus Bridge. There’s just something about reaching the apex of the bridge and looking down, envisioning what it must have been like in March 1965.

What would you have done if faced with such a decision?

Would you have turned around and headed home or would you have continued on, believing in your heart that you were right and that changes must be made?

Thankfully for us all, those brave marchers on that fateful Sunday morning chose to continue on — despite knowing they would be attacked and beaten.

Today, we will once again honor their sacrafice and their bravery. Today we will once again honor their commitment to changing our country for the better, assuring everyone has the same civil rights and those rights are protected.

For Selma, it is likely best known for the events of Bloody Sunday and the place it holds in American history. But there is so much more to the Queen City.

It had a rich history long before March 1965 and it continues today to be one the most historic cities in the state and nation.

But, Selma also has a future; a bright future.

Despite what some would consider chronic unemployment, Selma is home to a proud people, a proud workforce, who have made companies like Zeigler, International Paper, Bush Hog and others very successful.

Selma sits in the middle — as the capital — of Alabama’s Black Belt, an area with unmeasurable potential when it comes to natural resources.

Does Selma have it’s problems? Absolutely, and far too often those problems overshadow the great things taking place.

Today, as we welcome thousands upon thousands of guests to our town, it would be wise for us to welcome them by saying, “welcome to Selma. Enjoy our past, but believe in our future.”