By Carey Fountain, Director of Programs and Partnerships

Over the past month, I had the opportunity to represent Foot Soldiers Park in two national panel discussions about the role of arts, culture, history, and community-rooted work in strengthening the civic health of a community.

One panel was part of Forecast Public Art’s Creative Power, Civic Purpose series where I joined SoulCenter founder Erin Michelle Washington and the Director of Creative Placemaking at ReCreate Appalachia, Sassa Wilkes,—organizational leaders working at the intersection of arts and community building—to talk about bridging divides, cultivating belonging and strengthening democratic participation in rural and southern communities. The other panel was part of AFTACON, the Americans for the Arts annual conference, focused on art-based strategies in rural areas and how they can strengthen local infrastructure or shape economies over time. That panel included artist Chris Gchachu, artist and rural activator Erika Nelson, and Executive Director of Arts Council for Wyoming Krysta Aina.

Both conversations centered on a question that is deeply connected to our work in Selma: How can art, culture, creativity, and community leadership help build stronger, healthier, and more democratic communities?

At Foot Soldiers Park, we don’t think of art and creativity as separate from civic life and community building. It is one of the primary ways we process Selma’s history, cultivate community, and pass democratic culture from one generation to the next.

In both panels, I shared how Foot Soldiers Park uses art as a vehicle for transmitting democratic memory, building belonging across generations, and giving Selma residents a living stake in the story of their own community.

The best examples of that are our Selma Cinema Festival and Photographic Nights of Selma, events which showcase the work of artists from around the world. Both events do more than bring people together for cultural experiences. They create opportunities for dialogue, storytelling, reflection, and connection across generations. When a young person interviews an elder about voting rights, or when a photograph helps people see Selma through a new lens, art becomes a tool for memory, healing, and democratic participation.

Many of the questions that emerged during both discussions centered around how meaningful change actually happens in communities—particularly rural communities. We talked about the importance of relationship-building, trust, and creating opportunities for people to participate rather than simply consume. 

One idea I kept returning to was that art is not decoration; it is infrastructure. Whether through a film festival, a photography event, a youth leadership initiative, or a community gathering, the goal is not simply to host events. The goal is to build pathways for connection, participation, and long-term engagement. In Selma, we have learned that gathering people is civic work. When residents, young people, elders, artists, and visitors come together to share stories, learn from one another, and imagine a future together, they are strengthening the social fabric that makes community life possible. 

Culture creates civic health, and participation creates ownership. Those ideas resonated deeply with audiences because they reflect challenges and opportunities that communities across the country are navigating today.

I am grateful to Forecast Public Art, the Educational Foundation of America, Americans for the Arts, and all of the organizers, panelists, and attendees who made these conversations possible.

Most importantly, I am grateful to represent Selma and Foot Soldiers Park in spaces where people are searching for models of resilience, participation, and hope. Selma’s story is still speaking, and Foot Soldiers Park is committed to making sure it continues to teach, organize, and inspire.

By Kimberly Smitherman, CEO of Foot Soldiers Park

On Friday, June 12, 2026, I had the honor of traveling to Dearborn, Michigan, alongside James Sutton, Foot Soldiers Park’s Director of Operations, and Jasmyn Bowie, Tour Coordinator, to attend the opening of the Dr. Sullivan and Mrs. Richie Jean Sherrod Jackson Home at The Henry Ford museum’s Greenfield Village.

The ceremony was a reminder that Selma’s story continues to move, teach, and challenge the nation.

The Jackson Home, originally located in Selma, Alabama, served as a central location in American history. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and other civil rights leaders gathered, planned, rested, and strategized there regularly during the Selma Voting Rights Movement of 1965.

Dr. Sullivan Jackson and Mrs. Richie Jean Sherrod Jackson were close friends of Dr. King and graciously opened their doors to him and other freedom fighters, including Nobel Peace Prize winners, international dignitaries, and members of Congress to offer refuge, safety, and support during a time when doing so came with real risk. Their home became part of the infrastructure of the movement, a place where courage was practiced, strategy was shaped, and the fight for voting rights was carried forward. In fact, Dr. King and others watched President Lyndon B. Johnson’s nationally televised address introducing the Voting Rights Act of 1965 from their residence. 

While we were in Dearborn, surrounded by people who came to witness the opening of this historic home, we were reminded that Selma’s civil rights legacy belongs to the nation. It travels through memory, storytelling, preservation, and the people committed to carrying it forward.

Selma’s presence was felt throughout the day with our attendance and that of our Mayor Johnny “Skip” Moss. The mayor’s presence underscored the importance of local leadership standing alongside national preservation efforts to ensure that Selma is remembered with dignity, accuracy, and care.

This opening was deeply meaningful to the team, affirming a central tenet of Foot Soldiers Park: the Civil Rights Movement was powered by everyday people like you and me who stepped up to shelter, feed, pray, and keep watch.

Throughout the day, we thought about the foot soldiers whose names, both known and unknown, made extraordinary sacrifices so that justice could move forward. We thought about the young people who will one day walk through the Jackson Home and understand that history was made by people who chose courage over comfort.

Foot Soldiers Park is dedicated to honoring the past while building power for the future. We know that preservation is not simply about saving buildings. It is about protecting memory, telling the truth, and ensuring that the next generation understands what was sacrificed for the rights we continue to defend today.

We are grateful to have witnessed this important milestone, and we remain deeply grateful for the legacy of Dr. Sullivan Jackson, Mrs. Richie Jean Sherrod Jackson, their daughter Jawana Jackson, and all those whose vision and persistence helped preserve this sacred piece of Selma’s history.

We also extend our sincere gratitude to The Henry Ford President and CEO, Patricia Mooradian, and the entire team whose care, leadership, and commitment helped bring the Jackson Home into this new chapter. 

History lives wherever people are brave enough to carry it forward.

Foot Soldiers Park proudly awarded four $2,000 scholarships through the Jo Ann Bland Legacy in Action Scholarship program during a recognition celebration held at the Foot Soldiers Park office on May 27. Students were honored alongside their families, friends, and staff for their academic achievement, community leadership, and commitment to advancing the legacy of Selma’s Civil Rights Movement.

Named in honor of Foot Soldiers Park co-founder and civil rights icon Jo Ann Bland, the scholarship invests in the next generation of leaders who are using their talents, education, and service to create positive change in their communities.

The scholarship was established to honor the courage and sacrifice of the Foot Soldiers who helped change the course of American history in 1965, while supporting young people who are building on that legacy through leadership, service, and civic engagement.

2026 Scholarship Recipients

Dereke Devol Furlow Jr.

Dallas County High School | GPA: 3.67

Attending Alabama State University | Criminal Justice

Dereke has distinguished himself through leadership roles in FBLA, Mu Alpha Theta, the National Honor Society, and Beta Club. One of his proudest accomplishments was organizing a bake sale to support a classmate whose family lost their home in a fire. He plans to pursue a career in criminal justice with aspirations of serving as Director of the U.S. Marshals Service.

Reflecting on Selma’s legacy, Dereke shared that he sees the work of the 1965 foot soldiers as a reminder that justice must be protected and upheld so that every person is treated fairly and with dignity.

Samarion Malachi Woods

Selma High School | GPA: 3.60

Attending Bethel University | Computer Science

A standout student-athlete, Samarion has excelled in football and basketball while also serving as an intern at Edgewood Elementary School. Through his mentorship of younger students, he has demonstrated a commitment to being a positive role model and encouraging academic success.

Samarion is a direct descendant of foot soldiers Lonzy West Sr. and Alice Martin West. Inspired by the stories of his family and community leaders such as Jo Ann Bland, he hopes to continue uplifting others through education, leadership, and service.

Cedriauna Eaton

Selma High School | GPA: 3.82

Attending The University of Alabama | Electrical Engineering

Cedriauna’s commitment to service is evident through her work with Edmundite Missions, where she has spent years helping facilitate food distribution efforts, clothing drives, and ACT preparation programs for younger students. A leader in DECA and robotics, she has combined academic excellence with a passion for creating opportunities for others.

She views Selma’s history as proof that progress is built through action and plans to use her education in engineering to expand STEM opportunities for future generations in her community.

Kennedi Nicole Brooks

Dallas County High School | GPA: 3.97

Attending Huntingdon College | Early Childhood Education

Kennedi has demonstrated leadership through her work as a Hope Dealer Intern, participation in Girls State, FBLA, cheerleading, and youth ministry. She also launched a “drug-free anthem” campaign designed to encourage healthy decision-making among young people in her community.

Inspired by the courage displayed by the marchers who crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge, Kennedi is committed to creating safe and supportive spaces where young people can learn, grow, and thrive.

Investing in the Next Generation

The Jo Ann Bland Legacy in Action Scholarship reflects Foot Soldiers Park’s commitment to preserving the legacy of the Civil Rights Movement while investing in future leaders who will shape their communities for generations to come.

“Continuing the Jo Ann Bland Legacy in Action Scholarship for a second year means so much to us at Foot Soldiers Park,” said Foot Soldiers Park Founding CEO Kimberly Smitherman. “Mrs. Bland believed deeply in young people and in making sure they understood where they came from, what was sacrificed for them, and the power they carry to shape what comes next. Although she is no longer physically with us, her legacy is still very much alive. This scholarship is one way we continue her work — by investing in students who will carry Selma’s story, courage, and spirit into the future.”

As these young leaders prepare to begin the next chapter of their lives, Foot Soldiers Park remains committed to ensuring that the spirit of Selma’s Foot Soldiers lives on through the actions, leadership, and accomplishments of future generations.

For more information about Foot Soldiers Park and its youth leadership initiatives, visit footsoldierspark.org.

On May 6, 2026, Foot Soldiers Park hosted the 4th Annual Juneteenth Oratorical Contest in Selma, bringing together high school students from across Selma and Dallas County for a powerful morning of reflection, courage, and celebration.

The Juneteenth event was created to provide a platform for young people to deliver prepared speeches, showcase their public speaking and critical thinking skills, build confidence, and express their thoughts, feelings, and hopes for the world they are inheriting. This year’s speakers reminded everyone in the room that youth voices are not only powerful — they are necessary.

Held at Selma High School from 9:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., the contest centered on our annual Juneteenth theme “Still We Rise.” Each year, we invite students to think deeply about history, identity, justice, and the future — and to use their voices to speak with honesty, confidence, and purpose.

Participants are expected to do research to identify their topic and to develop an original speech or use the work of any famous orator except Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. This year, we provided a professional training workshop with a debate coach. Students were coached on preparation, content, vocal delivery, stage presence and special tips for overcoming their fears.

Thirteen students from all public high schools and a private academy participated, representing Selma High School, Southside High School, Keith High School, Dallas County High School, and Ellwood Christian Academy. Through their speeches, they explored the legacy of civil rights, the meaning of Black identity, the challenges young Black people face today, and the continuing importance of protecting voting rights and civic participation.

The Juneteenth event was organized and emceed by Angela Benjamin, Program Manager of Foot Soldiers Park, whose leadership helps create spaces where students can be seen, heard, and celebrated.

A distinguished panel of judges supported this year’s contest, including:

• Dr. Gloria Batiste-Roberts, our 2026 Lead Judge, Head Coach of the Texas Southern University Debate Team and Adjunct Professor of Social Work. 2025 International Debate Competition Champion (held in Korea)
• Judge Collins Pettaway, Jr., recently Retired Active Alabama State Court Circuit Judge, 4th Judicial Circuit, (elected 3 Terms) in the Largest Geographical Judicial Circuit in the State
• First Lady Jeannie Evans, longtime nurse, healthcare educator, community leader, speech educator, and former First Lady of Selma
• Mr. Austin Williams, Interim Executive Director of the YMCA of Selma-Dallas County, 2014 graduate of Dallas County High School, and Masters in Marketing Communications from University of West Alabama 
• Mrs. Wanda Howard Battle, Founder and CEO of Legendary Tours, LLC, master storyteller, singer, and civil rights advocate

This year’s winners are:

• First Place:
  Marquel Carter
  10th Grade, 16 years old
  Ellwood Christian Academy
  Score: 491
  
  Marquel spoke on holding fast to faith through tough times and trusting God will give you the strength to push through, even when you feel like you have nothing left.
• Second Place:
  Madison Smiley
  11th Grade, 16 years old
  Southside High School
  Score: 480
  
  Madison spoke about the parallels between the injustices and violence Black Americans have endured throughout history and the recent unrest and killings of ICE protestors in Minneapolis. Madison reminded the audience that when injustice shows up, resistance must follow.
• Third Place:
  DeAngelo Carrion
  9th Grade, 14 years old
  Selma High School
  Score: 459
  
  DeAngelo talked about the enduring significance of Juneteenth, cautioning that its cultural weight is quietly being eroded by the persistent, often invisible forces of systemic racism.

The school that has the first place winner received the highly sought after Traveling School Trophy and the honor of 365 days school bragging rights across all of Selma-Dallas County, Alabama. This year, Ellwood Christian Academy (ECA) took the trophy from 2025 reigning champion, Selma High School. ECA will post the floor-standing trophy in their main school entrance for all to see.

Foot Soldiers Park extends deep gratitude to Selma High School for continuing to serve as the host location for this important event. We also thank the families, teachers, faculty, and school leaders from Selma High and all participating schools who helped prepare, encourage, and support the students who took the stage.

The 4th Annual Juneteenth Oratorical Contest was more than a competition. It was a reminder of what happens when young people are given a platform to speak truth, honor history, and imagine a future shaped by justice and hope.

Foot Soldiers Park invites the community to continue the celebration at the 5th Annual “Still We Rise” Juneteenth event on June 19, 2026, from 12:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. This year’s oratorical contest winners will be present and share their speeches with the community.

Join us as we celebrate Juneteenth, uplift youth voices, and continue rising together.

Read more about the Oratorical Contest from the Blackbelt News Network

Foot Soldiers Park’s BUILD UP program made its second appearance among young people, joining more than 550 young men in grades 5 through 12 along with local fathers, father figures, and male community members. The “Brothers Rising” event is an annual youth empowerment summit hosted by the Selma City School District focused on violence prevention, mentorship, and positive decision-making for young men across Selma and Dallas County.

Our Director of Programs Carey Fountain and Finance Professor Josh Pierce from the University of Alabama School of Business led a breakout session at the event that introduced students to Foot Soldiers Park’s youth financial literacy program in Selma, BUILD UP. The program equips students with knowledge, practical skills, and tools to build early financial habits and secure their pathways towards stable financial futures.

To allow as many students as possible to participate throughout the morning, the BUILD UP team designed a fast-paced, highly interactive 15-minute experience centered around one core message: the financial decisions young people make today shape the opportunities they have tomorrow.

The session focused on:

• Understanding the difference between wants and needs
• How patience impacts financial success
• The long-term cost of impulsive spending
• Why responsible money management matters as students grow older

Using real-life examples and interactive discussions, students were encouraged to think critically about spending habits, peer pressure, and how financial discipline can create more choices and opportunities later in life.

The session is part of our expanding Youth Engagement and Building Wealth work to increase the financial literacy among Selma’s youth and strengthen the economic stability of the broader community through educational opportunities, tools, resources, and creating community-led initiatives designed to transform disparities into multi-generational wealth. Students were invited to join in future BUILD UP opportunities, helping Foot Soldiers Park begin building a pool of students engaged in the youth financial literacy program in Selma.

BUILD UP is Foot Soldiers Park’s signature financial literacy program for young people in Selma – focused on building students’ practical knowledge around budgeting, banking, credit, investing, and long-term wealth creation. The program was first piloted at Selma High School in October of 2025 and continues to evolve through partnerships with educators, financial professionals, and community organizations.

The Brothers Rising event represented another important step in refining BUILD UP’s model ahead of broader implementation in the 2026–2027 school year.

Foot Soldiers Park is grateful to Selma City Schools for the invitation to participate and to all of the students who engaged so thoughtfully throughout the morning.

Statement from Kimberly Smitherman, Foot Soldiers Park Founding Partner and CEO

The Voting Rights Act was earned by those who marched on the streets of Selma in 1965. The Supreme Court voting rights ruling diminished their sacrifice. And now, millions’ ability to freely exercise their right to vote in the future is in jeopardy.

President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act into law weeks after law enforcement chased and beat civil rights protesters, like our late co-founder Jo Ann Bland. She and 600 other  brave foot soldiers marched on the Edmund Pettus Bridge – daring to demand their fundamental right to vote. They risked their lives so that all Americans would have a meaningful voice in our democracy.

In the court’s decision, the justices gutted the law. They didn’t strike it down outright. They did something more insidious: rewrote it to require proof of intentional racial discrimination. But, that’s a lot like asking someone to count how many bubbles are in a bar of soap – the same kind of impossible test they used to block Black voters at the registration office during Jim Crow.  It creates a standard designed to fail and be deliberately out of reach. Some tactics don’t change, they just learn to hide behind new language.

Today, discrimination doesn’t always declare its motives. Discrimination is good at operating in the shadows. It appears in voting bills and precinct closures. Relocates polling places. It manipulates district lines. And now, unless you can prove they harbored racial hatred in their hearts, the law leaves communities like ours with virtually no protection.

But we have been here before. When courts turned their backs in the past, ordinary people stepped forward. They organized, marched, and voted until the law had no choice but to catch up. In the face of the Supreme Court voting rights ruling which weakens a cornerstone of the Voting Rights Act, our answer must be the same. We fight back together. We refuse to be drawn out of power. And we make it undeniable—at the courthouse and the ballot box—that we will not surrender our voice in this democracy.

It is with profound sadness and heavy hearts that we announce the passing of our beloved founder Ms. Jo Ann Bland, a lifelong warrior for civil rights and racial justice. Ms. Bland passed away February 19, 2026 – a day that calls us to grieve, yes, but even more to honor a life that was extraordinary in every sense of the word. She gave everything she had to Selma, to foot soldiers whose stories she refused to let die, and to the generations of young people she spent her life lifting up. We are forever changed by knowing her, and forever in her debt.

Born and raised in Selma, Alabama, Ms. Bland grew up in the shadow of Jim Crow – the American apartheid, as she called it – watching racism and segregation create devastating divides between people who would have otherwise been neighbors, friends and peers. Rather than accept it, she fought it. At eleven, she had already been arrested at least thirteen documented times for demanding voting rights for people. She was among the more than 600 peaceful marchers who walked across the Edmund Pettus Bridge on Bloody Sunday and were met with state troopers wielding billy clubs, tear gas, bullwhips, ropes and brutality. She saw a woman fall and heard her head hit the pavement. She passed out, woke up in a car, her head in her sister’s lap, her sister’s blood dripping from wounds that would later require 26 stitches. And still, she kept going.

Ms. Bland went on to integrate Selma’s A.G. Parrish High School, attend college in New York, and serve in the U.S. Army. When she returned to Selma in 1989, she co-founded the National Voting Rights Museum and Institute, and later started her tour company—Journeys for the Soul—guiding visitors from around the world through the streets where history was made.

“I am heartbroken to learn of the passing of Ms. JoAnne Bland – a freedom fighter and daughter of Selma, Alabama. It was Foot Soldiers like JoAnne who put their lives and freedom on the line for the right of all Americans to vote,”
U.S. Representative Terri Sewell said in a statement written in The Grio.

Her tours were unlike anything else. At one point along the route, she would take visitors to an old slab of cement where the original foot soldiers met before beginning their historic marches from Selma to Montgomery. She would ask each person to find a rock broken off from that “hallowed ground” and hold it in their hand as a symbol of their own connection to the movement and their responsibility to carry it forward.

“I have never seen anyone throw that rock down,” she said. “I’ve seen people try to get more rocks, but I’ve never seen them throw that rock down. And I give them a mission: When you see injustice anywhere and you feel like you can’t do anything about it, you need to go pick up that rock,” said Ms. Bland.

That was Ms. Bland. She didn’t preserve history – she made you feel it in your hand, and she made you responsible for it.

In 2021, she and CEO Kimberly Smitherman founded Foot Soldiers Park to honor the courage of the foot soldiers by finishing what they started. They shared a bold vision, reimagining Selma’s historical significance as an engine for economic prosperity sustained by a vibrant community and transformed into a model for racial justice led by the genius of youth. For the last four years the organization followed that vision, engaging the community, bringing together residents, leaders and partners to build a comprehensive strategy for impact and growth.

From the Journeys for the Soul tours to today’s immersive historic tours, Ms. Bland’s vision to preserve Selma’s history and educate people from around the world about the role of ordinary people in the Civil Rights Movement has become one of Foot Soldiers Park’s signature programs. She made sure the organization’s programs aligned with the issues she felt most passionate about, including youth development programs raising up new leaders, economic initiatives creating wealth, building civic engagement programs that reignite the civic culture that made Selma unstoppable.

For Ms. Bland, preserving the ground where foot soldiers gathered before the 1965 marches was an important act of remembrance. In 2021, she and Kimberly purchased the first parcel of land next to Brown Chapel Church where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. launched the voting rights campaign in Selma. Ms. Bland’s dream was to use this land and build a park, memorial and education center that will bring community visitors, activists and civil rights leaders together to envision, create and be a part of the next social justice movement.

“Selma should be a mecca for civil rights,” Ms. Bland often said. She described the park, memorial and education center as a hub where people would visit from around the world, where Selma would finally receive what it long deserved.

Many will remember Ms. Bland as a bold visionary. She was feisty, quick-witted and took absolutely no nonsense. She had a gift of cutting through pretense and saying things that others wouldn’t. On the subject of voting rights, she was blunt: “When you don’t use that [voting] power, you’re slapping me all in my face, and all the thousands and thousands of those who fought for you to have the right to vote.”

She had pointed words for the complacent: “That stuff about ‘standing on my shoulders.’ Get off my shoulders and do what you’re supposed to do. You’re heavy. I’m tired of fighting for you when you’re able-bodied and can do it, too.”

Beneath the fire was a woman who had deep love for and commitment to young people and believed that they hold the key to progress and freedom. She spent countless hours telling children and youth what too few adults tell them – that the Civil Rights Movement was fought primarily by women and children, that they already possess the same power the foot soldiers had, that they are the present of the movement.

“The more stories these children hear about the past from people who were there, it becomes real and not remote,” she said, “and they start to think about how they fit in the puzzle of social change.”

The puzzle of social change was her signature metaphor that will stay with everyone who met her: “Movements for social change are like a jigsaw puzzle. Everyone represents a piece. Without your piece, the picture is not complete.”

“Ms. Bland was an unflinching and unstoppable teacher,”
EJI writes in a news commemoration story.

Ms. Bland did not live to see the park, memorial and education center fully realized, but she secured the land, developed partnerships, attracted like-minded donors and built the team that can carry her vision forward.

“What people don’t understand or don’t think about [is that] the [Civil Rights] movement was not a Black movement. They couched it like that and wrote our history like that, but women didn’t vote, poor people of any color didn’t vote. The rights that [everyone has today] were fought for by people like me, people right here in Selma. And Selma deserves the best. Selma gave so much to this nation. It’s time for someone to give back. Let it be your time.”

— Ms. Jo Ann Bland, November 2025

She was a foot soldier, a founder and a force. Now, it is our turn to let her vision guide us and keep her spirit alive.

Honor her life. Continue her work.

Our founder Jo Ann Bland believed that every person has a piece of the puzzle – and without yours, the picture remains incomplete. Honor her legacy by finding yours. Learn civil rights history. Bring children to Selma. Support the work of Foot Soldiers Park. Show up. Speak out. Vote.

Read more about Ms. Bland in the News

• EJI: EJI Remembers Civil Rights Foot Soldier Jo Ann Bland
• The Grio: Joanne Bland, a noted Civil Rights activist who helped create Selma’s Foot Soldiers Park, dies at 72
• NPR: Remembering civil rights icon Joanne Bland
• AL.com: Alabama civil rights icon dead at 72: ‘Selma lost one of her greatest daughters
• Black Enterprise: Civil Rights ‘Foot Soldier’ Joanne Bland Died At 72
• Black Belt News Network: Selma and the nation remember Joanne Bland, civil rights leader who died Thursday
• WBRC: Civil rights advocate Jo Ann Bland dies
• WVTM: Joanne Bland, lifelong Civil Rights activist and founder of Selma’s Foot Soldiers Park, dies
• WAKA: U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell, Selma Mayor Johnny Moss, III remember life of Civil Rights leader JoAnne Bland

We successfully launched our pilot for Build Up, a new financial education program, at Selma High School. On January 21, the school held a ceremony for 111 9th through 12th graders, marking the completion of the course by the first cohort of students and celebrating winners of the stock simulation component.

The three-week program, a part of our Building Wealth impact area covers banking, budgeting, credit and loans, the racial wealth gap, and investment basics. Our goal is to strengthen long-term financial stability and lay the groundwork for generational wealth in Selma, a city long denied investment and trapped in economic challenges, from a high poverty rate, 41% to a low 46% homeownership rate.

“Selma has spent decades working to regain its economic footing. But we know that the path forward begins with investing in our people,” said Carey Fountain, Director of Programs at Foot Soldiers Park. “Our goal with this program is to build financial knowledge, healthy habits and access to support so students can grow into adults who make informed decisions about earning, saving and investment. Ultimately, we’re preparing the next generation to build generational wealth, achieve economic stability, and fuel Selma’s long-term prosperity.”

Empowering youth with financial knowledge has proven long-term benefits for individuals as well as communities. Research links higher financial literacy to greater wealth accumulation, higher rates of saving and investing, and more effective retirement planning. Evidence also suggests that students’ financial education can positively influence their parents, potentially breaking cycles within families.

The Alabama legislature recently passed HB164 requiring high school seniors to complete a one-semester course on financial literacy and money management. Build Up expands upon the state curriculum with additional instruction blending lectures, simulations, discussions, and hands-on activities exploring mortgages, credit, and stocks and savings strategies. Build Up also brings in financial literacy professionals and provides teacher training, easing the burden on educators who may not have deep financial expertise and creating a sustainable system to ensure every student receives high-quality financial instruction, regardless of a school’s prior resources.

One hundred and eleven Selma High School students completed the pilot designed by Fountain and Joshua Pierce, Professor of Finance and Associate Head of the Economics, Finance and Legal Studies at the University of Alabama Culverhouse College of Business.

“The program is definitely important right now,” said Selma High Principal Stoney Pritchett. “A lot of these college students will walk into college, and the first thing they do is get a major credit card, and they’re in debt, and some go to college in debt because they’re taking out loans. [This program] is preparing the students and making them aware of what they need to do or how they need to invest or pay attention to their spending.”

As part of the stock simulation component of the course, student teams are provided a real-life $50 investment opportunity. 9th grader Chandler Wesley received a $250 cash prize for winning first place in sound investment reasoning and performance. Ninth grader Zariah Williams won $175 with second place and 11th grader Gavin Perry won $75 with third place.

Foot Soldiers Park plans to refine the Build Up program based on lessons from the pilot and to open it to all high school grades, with future expansion into other high schools as well as elementary schools. Later this year, the organization will also launch a program targeting adults.

Voter registration information is important to know before you head to the polls to cast your ballot.

1. Check your voter registration status!

In all states (with the exception of Maine and Wyoming) voters can check their voter registration status online.

2. Register to vote!

Most states (with the exception of Texas, Maine, South Dakota, Wyoming, Mississippi, New Hampshire, Arkansas and Montana) allow online voter registration.

Visit vote.gov to register and to find additional information if your state does not allow online registration.

PS: Don’t leave it to the last minute! Many states require registration to be completed 30 days prior to election day.

3. Learn about early and absentee voting

Many states allow voting early in person or by mail-in absentee ballot. Some states allow any voter to vote early or absentee while other states have specific requirements.

Check out your state’s laws about early in-person and absentee voting.