Evans: Ask God to heal our land
Published 3:54 pm Wednesday, January 1, 2014
Selma’s mayor is saying no more in the wake of the murder of 18-year-old former Selma High School student Alexis Hunter.
Selma Mayor George Evans has initiated an antiviolence campaign within the Selma community. Evans said he is in the process of getting signs that will read “No More” in an effort to stop violence in the community.
The public is welcome to pick up signs at the Selma City Hall once they have been made, and post them throughout the city.
“When you see a sign saying, ‘No More,’ we need to ask God to heal our land,” Evans said. “We can do all these things, but unless we have God involved in it, it’s not going to happen.”
Evans said the incident, which was one of 12 murders that have happened in Selma this past year, impacted him so deeply that he had to design a campaign that would prevent similar situations from happening.
A day prior to Hunter’s funeral he finalized his decision to launch the campaign.
“It kind of hit home even harder with this one with the way it was done and the reason it was done,” Evans said. “It’s a carryover of all the murders. It was a climax of all the murders that have taken place in our city over the years, especially this year.”
Evans said that he knows that posting signs all over the city will not prevent violence, but he said it’s a good start.
“I know that signs are not necessarily the whole answer to all this,” Evans said. “The signs are the main reason for creating awareness, more awareness actually.”
Evans said that he plans to put an additional “No More” sign in his front yard for every new murder there is in Selma. He said that he hopes that others in the community will do the same.
“That makes us more conscience of the fact that if there is more than one sign in the yard that somebody has killed somebody then maybe we’ll pray harder and think harder about it,” Evans said.
Selma City School Superintendent of Education Gerald Shirley said that he would do whatever it takes to help the mayor with his initiative.
“I agree with him wholeheartedly, and will do whatever I can do to assist him,” Shirley said.
Evans said he has high hopes for the citywide “no more” antiviolence campaign.
“If we do it right, I believe it will make a difference. I really believe that,” Evans said. “I hope that 2014 will be a better year for our city.”