At Saint Anselm College’s
Martin Luther King Jr. Dinner on
January 27th, civil rights activist
and Selma native Betty Mae Fikes
delivered a powerful and personal
reflection on the past, present, and
future of the struggle for justice in
the United States.
Fikes was a teenager during the
Selma voting rights movement,
she spoke about reconnecting with
her roots and the life-changing

moments that shaped her under-
standing of racism and resistance.

Growing up, she said, at first she
did not grasp the severity of racial
violence around her. “Nobody
talked about the lynchings or the
racism,” she shared, explaining

that silence was often used as pro-
tection. She remembered attend-
ing church nearly every day as a

child, only later realizing it was
because adults were trying to keep

children safe from what was hap-
pening outside its walls.

Her speech revolved on the
courage of young people during
the civil rights movement. Adults,

she explained, often feared par-
ticipating because they risked

losing their jobs, homes, or lives.
As a result, children in Selma
became history makers. Though
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. initially
believed they were too young to
march, the community ultimately
felt there was no choice. “Who
would have thought we were
making history?” she said.
Fikes recounted the terror of
the era, violent mob attacks on

Freedom Riders, police who stood
by without intervening, and the
murder of Jimmie Lee Jackson
in 1965. Despite the danger, she
emphasized the importance of

nonviolence protests, how pro-
testers had “nothing but songs

to pacify us.” Music, faith, and
community became their tools of
resistance.
Throughout her speech, Fikes
talked about connections between
the past and the present, warning
that many of the rights fought for

decades ago are still being threat-
ened today. She challenged stu-
dents not to focus only on history,

but on their responsibility now. “I
don’t want to talk about what he
did 60 years ago,” she said. “I want
to know what you will do today.”
She closed with a familiar call

inspired by Congressman John
Lewis: the need to get into “good
trouble.” As the event ended
with a collective singing of “This
Little Light of Mine,” Fikes left

the audience with a lasting mes-
sage: change requires courage and

willingness to act, even when it’s
uncomfortable.