Anniston’s Ward 3 councilwoman Ciara Smith speaks at JSU for Black History Month

Skyler Leathrum, Correspondent

On Thursday, the JSU Office of Diversity and Inclusion held the Evening of the Arts, where a solo singer and JSU gospel choir performed, and Anniston’s Ward 3 councilwoman Ciara Smith spoke.

Smith opened with a letter to her future self she wrote when she was younger that preceded the rest of her speech on her journey to becoming a 21 year old councilwoman. 

“It is the most gut wrenching moments of my life that have shaped it,” said Smith, who spoke of the death of Martin Luther King Jr. and how it influenced her life “blueprint.”

Smith told students who attended to “set out to do it well” on their own lives and their “blueprints” of who they wish to become.

“Each of you have a fight to be fought,” she said. 

She showed a demonstration she recently saw at a church where she beat and crumpled a dollar and said “just like this dollar, being beaten down doesn’t change your worth.”

Smith provided personal experiences and the experiences of those involved in the Civil Rights movement to explain that history will not change if we do not wish it to.

“What will you do with your life’s blueprint?” Smith asked in conclusion.