It’s show time for Selma, as Friday truly kicks off the start of this year’s Bridge Crossing Jubilee and the festivities that surround the 50th anniversary of Bloody Sunday and the Selma to Montgomery marches in 1965.

Vendors will line the streets and thousands upon thousands will descend upon Selma for an up-close view of all the events surrounding one of the most important anniversaries in our nation’s history.

It goes without saying that this is also arguably the biggest weekend Selma has had since 1965.

Through the Unity Walk and other community led efforts in recent months, it’s clear that those in Selma are ready for the city to take a step forward. A lot has been written this week by national media outlets about Selma’s unfortunate role in the past and the city’s current state of affairs as they try to paint a picture of where the city was and how far it’s actually come.

It’s not an easy task for one looking at the city from the outside.

Selma will always be known as the city where the Voting Rights Movement culminated and where foot soldiers stood for what they believed in. That will never change for the rest of eternity and there’s nothing wrong with that.

The word “potential” is used a lot around here by those that call Selma home and the passersby that drive over the historic bridge on their way to destinations unknown.

Behind some of the older buildings in the downtown district and the problems the city faces, that’s one thing everyone can seem to agree on — the potential is here, and it’s endless.

Looking back, Selma probably hasn’t grown at the rate anyone would like to see over the span of 50 years.

There’s plenty of work to be done and changes that need to be made, but when the cameras leave and the spotlight is off, the same problems will still exist as they did before the weekend started.

We know what those problems are, most coming back to poverty, and unfortunately will be reminded of those repeatedly as this weekend unfolds.

Yet it’s how we deal with those problems today is how Selma will be described 25 years from now at the 75th anniversary and 50 years from now at the 100th.

It would be a shame if all these problems were still rampant issues by the time those anniversaries are celebrated.

There’s a lot of talk this week about where Selma was in 1965, compared to where it is in 2015. Given the events of 50 years ago, that was bound to happen. The truth is that Selma is what those in the community make it out to be.

This weekend let’s honor those who changed history on the Edmund Pettus Bridge 50 years ago, but then let’s take a step together and refocus our sights on turning all of this potential into reality.