Yesterday morning, Selma Dallas – County Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Sheryl Smedley arranged a meeting between Reader’s Digest – Europe writer Paul Roberts and local Voting Rights Movement Foot Soldier Dianne Harris.

Roberts, hailing from Amsterdam, is working on a story for Reader’s Digest – Europe that will be published next September preceding election season.

Robert’s aims to link Civil Rights History and the Voting Rights movement to the current issues dealing with voter suppression.

According to Roberts, the heart of his story will focus on the March Against Fear launched by James Meredith in 1966 in which activists attempted to walk from Memphis, Tennessee to Jackson, Mississippi to encourage African Americans to vote.

Roberts is scheduled to meet and interview Meredith, now 85, and the end of his travels in Jackson.

“That’s the preconceived idea,” said Roberts.

Roberts said that the story could take a new direction as he explores the Civil Rights History of the south.

After meeting with Smedley and Harris at the Selma Interpretive Center, Harris led Roberts on a “mini-tour” consisting of the Interpretive Center, the Edmund Pettus Bridge and Historic Brown Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church.

“I think those places are some of the most important features we have here in Selma,” said Harris. “The history is truly there.”