I was fortunate this fall to join a unique learning exchange of 10 leaders from across the U.S. and 9 colleagues from South Africa. We spent a week traveling in their country and meeting with grassroots leaders, starting in Johannesburg and later moving to the coastal town of Durban to learn from their nation’s struggle to defeat an apartheid government and establish a multiracial, multifaith and multiethnic democracy. 

Our own multiracial democracy is not so well-established, given that many Alabamians were legally barred from voting rights in our state until 60 years ago, and these rights remain consistently under threat. Black voters are still blocked from voting at a rate three times that of white voters due to unequal sentencing and felony disenfranchisement laws, and numerous rules have been proposed just this year that would effectively disenfranchise naturalized immigrants.

From our South African colleagues, I learned coalitions of solidarity to protect the rights of everyone across lines of race, religion and ethnicity are hard-won. These relationships must be carefully fostered and protected in our movements. Democracy itself is fragile and under continuous threat in both of our nations. We must become consistent champions of democratic participation at every level for a free society to flourish.

When our colleagues come to Montgomery next spring for the 2026 Selma Jubilee Celebration, I imagine continuing our fellowship by sharing lessons, camaraderie, joy – and most of all hope – for a more democratic and inclusive future.