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The Selma-Dallas County Emancipation Proclamation Committee announced the 161st Commemoration Celebration for President Abraham Lincoln signing  the Emancipation Proclamation  will be held on Monday, Jan. 1 at 11 a.m. at Christian Light Missionary Baptist Church in Safford.

The Emancipation Proclamation, signed on Jan. 1, 1863, declared “that all persons held as slaves” within the rebellious states “are, and henceforward shall be free.”

The theme for the 2024 event is, “African-American and the Arts.” Selma University President Dr. Stanford Angion, a member of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc., will be the guest speaker. 

“The Emancipation Proclamation Celebration is an opportunity to remind the community of the importance of the document signed by President Lincoln,” Emancipation Proclamation Committee Secretary Althestein Johnson said. “Most importantly, we want to encourage and educate the youth about what this meant to our ancestors and that we should continue to perpetuate this significance to our posterity.”

The committee  is asking for donations of $100 towards the

Scholarship Fund, awarded yearly to Selma University or Wallace Community

College-Selma. The recipient for 2024 is Selma University. Each church, entity, or individual  donating $100  or more will have their name listed in the program as one of “Nehemiah’s Builders.”