Annual National Day of Racial Healing Returns to Selma, Alabama

SELMA, AL – January 11, 2022:  Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation Selma (TRHT Selma) a programmatic partnership of the Black Belt Community Foundation (BBCF) and the Selma Center for Nonviolence, Truth & Reconciliation (SCNTR) announces a series of public service and healing events to honor (MLK Day of Service, Jan. 17) and Tuesday, Jan. 18, the National Day of Racial Healing (NDORH). Due to the rising surge of COVID-19, most events will be hosted online. At 12 noon, Tuesday’s NDORH events will include a free to attend online “Beyond Divide and Conquer: Unite and Build Racial Equity Training”. Tuesday evening will culminate with a very special online discussion featuring internationally acclaimed film director and producer, Rachel Boynton, discussing her film Civil War (or, Who do we Think We Are). For the fourth consecutive year, Governor Kay Ivey of Alabama has officially proclaimed Jan. 18th as the National Day of Racial Healing in Alabama.

TRHT Selma invites the public to join the special online virtual program beginning at 6PM on Tuesday, January 18th by visiting either the BBCF Facebook or SCNTR Facebook pages for a livestream broadcast. Viewers can also tune in via the BBCF’s YouTube Channel. TRHT Selma leadership will be joined by Selma City High School History students and their teacher to talk with internationally acclaimed producer and director, Rachel Boynton, about her latest documentary – Civil War (or, Who Do We Think We Are)The film, released in 2021, explores how Americans learn about Civil War history in classrooms around the country. Interviewing historians, high school history teachers, and students, Boynton attempts to highlight how we talk about and teach our Civil War past. Rachel Boynton produced and directed the feature-length documentaries Big Men (2014) and Our Brand Is Crisis (2006). Viewers for Tuesday night’s online event will have the opportunity to comment or pose questions through the comments/chat areas on all platforms.

2022 marks the sixth consecutive year that the TRHT Selma Team will commemorate MLK Day and joins 13 other national places in observance of the “National Day of Racial Healing” as established by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.  This year’s events will also continue the tradition of a winter clothing giveaway at the Edmundite Missions’ Bosco Nutrition Center in downtown Selma on MLK Day morning. 

Follow TRHT and BBCF and community developments and more online at http://www.TRHTSelma.org  and www.blackbeltfound.org and via social media outlets at BBCF Facebook, Instagram, Youtube Channel, or Twitter.

 

Follow all Selma Center for Nonviolence Special Events for MLK YOUTH DAY beginning Saturday, Jan 15 at the SCNTR Facebook Page and http://www.selmacenterfornonviolence.org.