By Will Whaley

This Saturday, Sept. 8, members of Selma and Dallas County will gather at the Selma Amphitheater for an Awakening event.

Also known as a Pep Rally for Jesus, Tamica Shepard, who helped organized the event, said that this event is a response to the violence in Selma.

“In wake of all the violence that has been going on in Selma, part of what is going on is a lack of communication,” Shepard said. “There is a lack of communication between citizens, and what we can do to help make a change to help get a handle on what is going on.

“This event is designed to have a day of fellowship between everyone,” she said. “We will have  a mass choir, and that will be a collection of churches and anyone that wants to come be part of the mass choir can sing. We will start everything at 3 p.m., but the gates open at 2 p.m.”

The churches and other organizations such as DHR will also be at the event to provide services.

“It will be an atmosphere of togetherness and love,” said Shepard. “That is something that Selma is lacking. We will have area ministers that will come out and speak to people.”

Shepard said there also will be a moment of dedication for the families that have lost loved ones to violence in Selma.

“We hope that this will help us come together as one and make Selma better,” she said. “We have to start somewhere.

“We are really excited about it,” she said. “We have been able to partner with the city, and Councilman Sam Randolph helped me get the partnership with the city along with the committee that I also constructed consisting of community leaders, business leaders and citizens that care about Selma and want to see things get better.”