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On Friday, The Safe Haven Center commemorated the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his efforts to bring forth impactful change in a non-violent way.

The center held an honorary dedication ceremony for Dr. King right beside the steps of the Selma City Hall on the official day of his assassination, April 4, 1968, at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee.

“We are blessed in this day, because this is the day that the community remembers Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. who we know was assassinated on this day and what we try to do here in the City of Selma is to not only remember Dr. King Jr. and the work that he did here but also to remember the victims of gun violence, which continue to be a trend here in the city of Selma,” said Michael Bowen, President of The Safe Haven Center.

During the opening ceremony of the event, Kalim Muhammad who is the organization’s Community Outreach Coordinator spoke on the behalf of Dr. King, his efforts and his soul, that he considered to be gentle and caring. 

“I do believe that this gentle, caring soul of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. has left this world one of the treasures from Almighty God that could never be fully assessed, fully comprehended, until it comes a time when we meet him again, and he comes in a meeting before you, I and God, and God tell us all the benefits of this man coming into this world,” Muhammad said.

Other speakers, like Muhammad, spoke about who Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was, his vision and his continuous effort to fight violence with non-violence. The ceremony also included speakers talking about the issues that still linger today despite King’s efforts, indicating that the community of Selma still has a long way to go. 

“It is unfortunate that most of our people have forgotten Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr,” said Faya Ore Rose Toure, who is a civil rights activist within the Selma community. “My friend Barbara came here every April on the fourth to remember the children who were killed in Selma. She had two sons of her own that were murdered. And, we wonder how do we go from the Klan lynching us to we lynching each other? I got the answer to that and it’s simple. We’ve been taught to hate each other. We have been taught to love our enemies and hate each other.”

During Toure’s speech, there were several copies of a newspaper passed around to the public, bringing awareness to the significant events that took place in 1965 and throughout the Civil Rights Movement. The paper also included the tragic death of Jimmy Lee Jackson among many other significant events of tragedy from that time.  

“The governor, who was none other than Gov. (George) Wallace, condoned the killing of children in the 16th Street Baptist Church and two young black boys. How did we go from the government killing us to us killing ourselves? I submit to you, it’s because we failed to tell the children the history. Because we did not tell them about the lynchings, unity or the deacons of the vessel, The Black Panther part.”

After Toure’s speech regarding Civil Rights History and the Civil Rights-based newspaper, she posed the question to the audience of, “If Dr. King, Jr. was alive today, where do you think he would be today? Where do you think he would be tomorrow? She said with King being 90 years old, she believes he would still be protesting and fighting for equality, justice and the freedom of all. 

Other members of the community who spoke at the ceremony honoring King, were Dallas County Probate Judge Jimmy Nunn, Selma resident Twanya Dixon, among many others including a special guest speaker known as John Marcus Cashin, who is the Son of the late Dr. John Logan Cashin Jr., who founded The National Democratic Party in 1966. 

Bowen said this is the organization’s 15th year hosting the ceremony and he said he is prayerful that the event is not just one that is supported, acknowledged but could also one day, be an event where people of the community can come out and speak their truth.