Selma is once again represented in Washington D.C.

When Selma native Terri Sewell takes the oath of office this afternoon, officially joining the ranks of the 112th Congress, the Queen City will have one of its own in our nation’s capitol.

When addressed by her colleagues, Sewell may be called the “honorable member from Alabama,” but when we see her speak she will be the Selma High alum, our neighbor, our friend and our elected representative.

Although she is a lawyer who has worked in Birmingham, she is not Artur Davis, looking for the next rung on the political ladder.

For many, Davis was a disappointment to his constituents in the Black Belt and even more of a disappointment in his campaign for governor.

In both cases, he left behind many of the principles he ran on and — popular or not — voted against many of the wishes of those who elected him to office.

Sewell, whose voting record is starting from square one, at least understands Alabama’s 7th Congressional District does not begin and end with Birmingham. Its core is based on the beliefs and experiences she either learned or garnered while growing up in Selma.

Sewell, when sworn in, will be a member of a much weaker Democratic minority in the House of Representatives. She will be a freshman Congresswoman without the experience of many of her colleagues.

But what she does take with her is history — not only as the first African-American woman sent to Washington, D.C. from Alabama — the history of Selma, the struggles this area faces in working to overcome.

For the first time in a long while, Alabama’s Black Belt has one of its own fighting for us in Congress and doing it is a woman this community helped raise and is extremely proud of.