Selma, Selma

It's only 14 square miles!

Hi, friends. I am just back from Selma, Alabama. I was there for work, filming Judge Vernetta Perkins, who is the first female Dallas County District Court Judge. It was a pretty emotional trip. I’ve always wanted to visit Selma, and so to get my head right, I watched the movie Selma on the plane. So already I was in tears, so much so that a woman next to me on the plane had to ask if I was okay. I was and I wasn’t, which pretty much sums up Selma.

When we got there, the first thing we noticed was how quiet everything was. Deserted, really. Shuttered businesses. Abandoned buildings. Decay everywhere. I was thinking maybe because it was a Sunday—Superbowl Sunday, no less (the Eagles were robbed!)—everyone was just at home. But Monday wasn’t much better. The population is contracting by about 2% every year.

About a month ago, a tornado blew through town, carving out a path of destruction that wiped out so many houses and what little infrastructure is left there. The Judge was in her home when the tornado blew through her sunroom. The devastation here cannot be overstated.

Selma is in bad shape.

On the other hand, there’s this incredibly charismatic and beautiful person, Judge Perkins, who is fighting for Selma. To preserve this lovely place and safeguard its legacy. And do right by the people who do live there. She wants resources and data and investment. I walked the Edmund Pettus Bridge and thought about how I, like so many others, was just going to roll on through here, take some pictures, and leave. But here is this Judge who had every opportunity to pursue the Big Time in some Big City, who chose to come back and give back instead.

She’s fighting an uphill battle. And she knows it.

As part of her interview, the Judge asked us what we were doing. Were we giving back? Helping foster a new generation of leaders who believe they can? I’ve been thinking about that. And I’m pretty sure the answer is no. Not enough, anyway.

One thing I can do, from afar, is send a little money Selma’s way, for disaster relief. While there, I kept trying to buy souvenirs, at minimum, but every gift store was closed. So instead we just tried to spend money at the one coffee shop, one BBQ place, and one hotel in downtown. Didn’t feel like much.

So, yeah, I’ll be rooting for Selma from here on out. And thinking about what else I can do that’s meaningful.

Stay tuned for the video we made of the Judge, alongside several others as part of a campaign to explain why criminal justice data matters—in human terms

. I think it’s all going to be amazing!

More soon—

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