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On Monday, The Safe Haven Center members alongside the organization’s President Rev. Michael Bowen met at the Selma City Hall to conduct a prayer vigil event, remembering the lives lost over the years in Selma to gun violence and those who tragically passed away Valentine’s Day weekend.

Several members of the community gathered soon after, hurdling in a circle, discussing the tragic death of 40-year-old Marcus Martin of Selma who was fatally shot and killed within his vehicle, just sitting in the parking lot of Walmart on Friday, Jan.31. including the valentine’s day weekend tragedies that took the life of a 14-year-old teenager, who was also fatally shot by another teen within the community within the 1400 block of Weaver Street early Saturday morning alongside the tragic death of 45- year-old Terry Wayne Harris who was fatally shot and killed as well early Sunday morning at a local business within the city.

“We’re here because of what’s happening in our community,” said Rev. Evelyn Manns, a native of Selma. “We’re here because of the violence that has overcome Selma. There is a crisis in Selma with our children and if the interfaith community does not come forward to join in this movement to stop this violence, it’s not going to happen.”

Manns said that she has found since she’s been in Selma for the weekend that every person that she talks to doesn’t know what’s going on.

“Why? Why don’t they know what’s going on? When the African American community in Selma, Alabama was based on religious upbringing and that’s what we have, the black religious experience that teaches us that we go to church on Sunday for the word of God and to get information that sustains us through the week. We had no recourse years ago but to go to the church because we were not privileged to the media, to the newspapers. It was not until later on in life that we were given the opportunity to have radio broadcasts. But, guess what? We knew what was going on in our communities because we went to church on Sunday and in the Black religious experience, pastors gave the information to their constituency about what was going on in the community.”

“We knew when a child was murdered, we knew when Ku Klux Klan was going to drive through our communities, we knew when they would come down the same street and we knew when they were going to leave there and where they were going next. Why? Because the church was a catalyst for information that we got in the pulpits to run our community.”

Manns said during her short time in Selma, she has reached out to several churches within the community including several pastors to get them to come out and join the community for the vigil but the only pastor outside of herself that showed up was Pastor Gary L. Crum Sr. of Ellwood Community Church.

“I challenge every pastor who is not here, who have members, constituencies who have children who are dying and who is exposed to this violence, this criminal behavior. Why aren’t they here on the steps? Who is afraid that they won’t stand for their children? You’ve got to stand for something and it was said, if you don’t, you fall for anything and that’s what’s happening in Selma. We are falling for lies, we’re falling for the hypocrisies and we are afraid to bring our faces to the forefront and say no, this has got to stop, and we have to help keep this kind of incident from happening.”

During the vigil, Bowen told the public about the book that he and Kalim Muhammad, who is another board of Director member of the organization put together to recognize and remember the lives lost over the years to gun violence and he briefly spoke about the three young men who lost their lives several years back.

“We have over 200 fatalities of gun violence, over 200 pictures and stories in this book, dedicated to the last ten years that we have put together,” Bowen said. “I want to just briefly ask, what happens after the young man is being shot on that corner, what happens when the that house is no longer standing or is burnt down. I can take you block after block, we have done this and we have researched this information block after block in the city of Selma. Devastation takes place. The family is no longer there. The family is divided. So, it’s not just the death of the young man, the whole family is split up and this is what happens after he’s been taken off of the block. And, this goes on and on and on.”

During the vigil service, all attendees gathered together and stood once again in the same circle, this time, all members held hands and prayed together and declared that God cover the city of Selma, the families who are mourning at this time, and those who still go through the hardship of loss within their families and to provide healing to all who have been affected by the senseless gun violence that has taken place in the queen city and changed their lives forever.