Gospel Updates Review: “Just Like Selma” | A New Social Justice Hymn

Gospel Updates Review: “Just Like Selma” | A New Social Justice Hymn

“Just Like Selma” is not just a hymn you listen to. It is a hymn that listens back to you. From the first swell of the choir to the final declaration, this song carries the emotional weight of history and the moral urgency of now.

Written by Nolan Williams Jr., the hymn is deeply rooted in the Black sacred tradition while speaking clearly to this present moment. It draws inspiration from the courage of John Lewis, Diane Nash, and Amelia Boynton Robinson, not to preserve their legacy as distant history, but to challenge today’s generation to embody the same faith, resolve, and moral clarity.

The performances by Zacardi Cortez and Beverly Crawford, featuring the Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church Mass Choir, are both stirring and intentional. Zacardi brings a prophetic urgency that feels like a cry from the streets, while Beverly offers a seasoned authority that grounds the hymn in testimony and lived faith. The choir does what great choirs have always done in pivotal moments. They turn memory into momentum.

Lyrically, the hymn centers on the moral arc of justice, not as a passive promise, but as a call to persistent action. The repeated language of persist, resist, protest, endure, and fight makes it unmistakably clear that justice does not arrive on its own. It bends when people show up with courage, conviction, and faith. The line “We got to march on. We got to fight and pray.” captures the heart of the song, reminding listeners that spiritual conviction and civic responsibility are inseparable.

What elevates “Just Like Selma” beyond a powerful recording is its collective reach and communal impact. The Hymn-sing Project has now grown to include over 90 churches, chapels, choirs, and organizations, representing 34 states plus Washington, DC, and spanning 16 denominations. This expanding participation affirms that this hymn is not merely commemorative. It is catalytic.

Its adoption by the Progressive National Baptist Convention, the historic denomination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., further underscores the significance of this moment. As part of the broader Freedom Advances campaign, the hymn connects worship to civic engagement, honoring 100 years of Black History Month while calling communities to remember, reflect, and act.

“Just Like Selma” does what the best gospel hymns have always done.
It teaches. It convicts. It unites.
And it sends you back into the world changed, asking yourself how you will live just like Selma today.

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