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A 12-foot puppet of a 10-year-old Syrian refugee child, Amal, received the key to the City of Selma on Friday.

Selma Mayor James Perkins Jr. declared Friday “Little Amal Day” in the city at Songs of Selma Park. He read a proclamation describing the day.

Amal, who crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge, symbolizes the hope of a better life for refugees and persons displaced from their homes and families.

“Little Amal is not just a 12-foot puppet,” Perkins declared. “We learn through her eyes the hope and determination. I think all of us can use a ray of hope. With all the tension throughout the world, this was the perfect time for Little Amal to visit the city of Selma. We are thankful she visited Selma.”

Amal’s remembrance is made possible by a partnership with Joanne Bland of the Foot Soldiers Park, Lynda Blackmon Lowery, Selma Mayor James Perkins Jr., NPS – Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail, Brown Chapel A.M.E. Church, and GLO.

Bland and Lowery, two Foot Soldiers, each spoke during the ceremony.

“We hope that Foot Soldiers Park can reimagine Selma and make it a better place,” Bland said.

“Little Amal brings honor to Foot Soldiers, not just the ones in Selma,” Lowery added.