Dr. LaFayette’s Selma 2.0 Charge!

How many people do you know who were leaders in the Nashville Sit-ins, Freedom Rides, Selma movement, Chicago movement and Poor People's campaign?

Dr. LaFayette, affectionately known as Doc, has commitment and vision like no other human being I’ve ever met. When people counted Selma out saying white folks were too mean and Black folks were too scared, he saw more. Even though he had seen first hand the viciousness of some 2000+ white people waiting to attack Freedom Riders in Selma. Later, when a white man tried to kill him in Selma on First and Union St. (now renamed Dr. Bernard LaFayette St.) in a tristate conspiracy to kill civil rights leaders, including the tragic assassination of Medgar Evers, he even saw more in the person who was trying to kill him—he saw the attempted assasinator’s humanity and dared to make him see his.

When Dallas county was the poorest county in the state in 2014 and USA Today named Selma the 9th poorest town in the Nation, he saw more. When others saw just the violence in Selma as the 8th most dangerous place in 2016 per capita in the Country to an increase in murders in Selma last year by 56%, he saw more. When others see just the Bridge, he sees more.Because he sees more and the exposure of a violence intervention model rooted in nonviolence in my Level II nonviolence training by Doc, our new program has helped to reduce murders by nearly 40% this year!

He sees Selma 2.0- the unfinished business of the Civil Rights movement—the Beloved Community. In the very first Board meeting of the Selma Center for Nonviolence, Truth & Reconciliation, of which he is a cofounder and Board Chair, he said, there is unfinished business of the Civil Rights Movement and that we need a Selma 2. He gave us our Selma 2.0 charge to Bridge Divides and build the Beloved Community. We desire to make Selma a model of the Beloved Community so that when people come to visit it’s not just for Selma’s history but for models of healing! Because of Dr. LaFayette’s vision, courage and commitment, we are well on our way of making that a reality!

He sees more and he does more. When others use us just for a once a year photo opp, he continues to see more and to invest in us. Working for us all year long whether as the Chair of our working Board or as our Master Trainer leading a training of the trainers twice a year in Selma or by consistently checking on me, praying for and guiding me along the way, coming to Selma whenever we need him. I think this shows the heart of him and Mama Kate especially. No matter how busy they are, they often call to check on me and to encourage me when I should be doing that for them. Whether encouraging me through giving me and Mary Liuzzo Lilleboe the first annual In Peace and Freedom award or just a call to admire my leadership of the Selma Center, they are pure love and light! They are the true leaders!

Dr. LaFayette took to heart Dr. King’s last words to him on the day that Dr. King was assassinated. He told him the next battleground was to internalize and institutionalize nonviolence and that’s just what he has dedicated his life to. The Selma Center was born from that conversation and continues that legacy because of Dr. LaFayette. So whether it’s helping to start the Selma Center for Nonviolence or nonviolence centers across the globe or instituting nonviolence in prisons in Columbia, South America or helping to stop civil wars in Nigeria with nonviolence, he has never sought the spotlight but instead has honored Dr. King’s final desire.

Unfortunately, it’s also why too few know of his amazing legacy. It’s also why the Selma Center created a children’s book series called, “Selma Superheroes,” so that children know the amazing legacy of people who lived in Selma like Doc and encourages youth to be Selma 2.0 Solutionaries! The first volume in the series is called, “My Peace & Justice Journey: The Journey of Bernard LaFayette Jr. on His Road to Freedom.”

So today I ask that we all follow Dr. LaFayette’s example and use nonviolence conflict reconciliation whenever and wherever there is injustice, conflict and pain. That we recognize that conflict is inevitable but combat isn’t. That we recognize that we can’t build the Beloved Community unless we “be” the Beloved Community. That we use the power of nonviolence, which is positive peace to heal and restore our communities with the force of love because that’s exactly what Doc has done for us! Thank you Doc!

Founding Director of the Selma Center for Nonviolence, Truth and Reconciliation. Former Public Defender, Teacher and Social Worker. Level 3 Nonviolence Trainer, creator and editor of Selma Superheroes Series and co-creator of the Beyond Divide and Conquer: Unite and Build Racial Equity Trainer.