Zakiya Sankara-Jabar’s cellphone buzzed relentlessly as a deadly storm system that spawned tornadoes throughout the U.S. South laid waste to relatives’ homes and churches across a part of Alabama known as the Black Belt.
Text messages and calls from loved ones, many of them hysterical, provided her with devastating updates of Thursday's storms, which tore through her native Dallas County, including the history-steeped streets of Selma.
Nearly every year since the march, Selma and Dallas County have welcomed back hundreds to thousands of movement foot soldiers, tourists, politicians and activists who ceremonially cross the Pettus Bridge to commemorate the sacrifices of those who bled for democracy. But when the annual celebration is over, the Black Belt continues on as a working class region struggling to deal with gun violence and drug addiction, much like many U.S. communities, but with far fewer resources.
U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell, a native of Selma, said it was painful to see what the tornado had done to her beloved hometown. Pettway is also a development director for Legal Services Alabama, an organization that provides free civil legal advocacy for low-income residents. The organization’s Selma office was damaged in the tornado.
“God has been good to us. We’ve been blessed. That is how we are looking at it," she said. “Our entire family is safe. Our neighbors are safe and that’s all that matters.”
المملكة العربية السعودية أحدث الأخبار, المملكة العربية السعودية عناوين
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Tornadoes rattle historic civil rights community in AlabamaSelma and Dallas County have welcomed back hundreds to thousands of movement footsoldiers, tourists, politicians and activists who ceremonially cross the Pettus Bridge to commemorate the sacrifices of those who bled for democracy. Thursday's storm inflicted heavy damage on Selma, cutting a wide path through the downtown area, where brick buildings collapsed, oak trees were uprooted, cars were tossed onto their sides and power lines were left dangling.
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