Our Mission

The mission of the Selma Center for Nonviolence, Truth, & Reconciliation is to partner with institutions to promote love, the establishment of justice, and build the Beloved Community. The Center is committed to transforming and healing the root causes of physical, political, psychological, environmental, economic and racial violence at personal, family, community and systemic levels.

Our Vision

The Voting and Civil Rights Movement in the deep American South has impacted the world. However, it birthed hope of promises that have not yet been fulfilled. In the 1960s, many leaders of the movement held a long-term vision beyond desegregation and the ability to participate in the voting process. They envisioned a nation, indeed a world, where the systems and institutions that governed citizens and families were based on love and justice. For the Selma CNTR, these and other key values are encapsulated in the primary values of nonviolence, truth and reconciliation. The architects of the Voting and Civil Rights Movement called this vision the Beloved Community.

The Selma Center for Nonviolence, Truth and Reconciliation envisions the Beloved Community as a world where there is a spirit of cooperation, where people’s similarities and differences are celebrated, and where policies in government and community institutions, as well as the culture they create, support fairness, equity, harmony, compassion and love in our interactions, as well as the sharing and preservation of resources for generations to come.

Through building people up with the power of love, instruction and utilizing Kingian nonviolence and conflict resolution as our primary philosophies, the Selma CNTR works to create a shift in our way of life. We will also work in solidarity with all people of goodwill to create local sector-level changes in areas such as our justice system, economy, and social/cultural institutions that make Dr. King's vision of the Beloved Community a defining part of our everyday lives in Selma and beyond.