By Blake Deshazo

The Selma Times-Journal

A Grammy Award-winning gospel singer is coming to Selma to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

CeCe Winans will perform at the Selma High School auditorium Saturday, March 7 at 6 p.m. The historic Brown Chapel AME Church and the city of Selma are putting on the concert.

“We wanted to do something that was uplifting and unifying for the city,” said Juanda Maxwell, chairwoman of the 50th anniversary celebration for Brown Chapel.

“We got with Mayor [George Evans], and we both had the same goal, which was to celebrate. So we thought it was a perfect partnership, and it worked out beautifully.”

Winans has won multiple Grammy Awards during her singing career dating back to 1987.

She has also appeared on “The Today Show,” “Good Morning America” and “The Oprah Winfrey Show.”

Tickets will go on sale Saturday, Jan. 17 at 6 p.m. at the Walton Theatre and Monday, Jan. 19 at the Martin Luther King Unity Breakfast that is sponsored by The Links, Inc. at 7 a.m.

“We want the public to know about it and to come out and get as many [tickets] as possible,” Maxwell said. “We have $25 general admission tickets and $35 VIP tickets.”

The concert, Maxwell said, will give people an opportunity to hear some of Winan’s greatest gospel hits.

“She hasn’t told me exactly what she will be singing,” Maxwell said. “But we will expect to hear some of her Grammy Award-winning numbers and a selection of her tunes from over the years.”

The concert will be fun for everyone to enjoy, Maxwell said.

“We just want everyone to come out and enjoy some good, clean entertainment and a gospel star that has been part of American gospel singing for a long time,” Maxwell said. “She is a beautiful lady, and it will be a wonderful family friendly concert.”

The Rev. Leodis Strong, pastor of Brown Chapel, said he hopes people will leave the concert inspired.

“[Winans] has a way of taking the spiritual force that drove [the Civil Rights Movement] and communicating it to a generation that faces so many other challenges,” Strong said. “Hopefully, they will be able to take away some of that same sense of empowerment.”