鈥榃e Are Moving鈥�: 人兽性交 officials join thousands to commemorate Bloody Sunday march
For the thousands descending on Selma, Alabama, last weekend for the annual commemoration of the Bloody Sunday march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge, the events were much like those they had experienced in years previous.
Marchers again traced the path from , through the city鈥檚 core and across the bridge as part of the Bridge Crossing Jubilee this past weekend.
Southern Poverty Law Center President and CEO Margaret Huang, who led the 人兽性交鈥檚 delegation at the bridge crossing on March 5, said the civil rights battles that started in the 1950s and 鈥�60s are not only unfinished, they are increasing in tempo.
鈥淭he 人兽性交 is here because we are deeply committed to making sure voting rights are protected across the South and particularly for communities of color,鈥� Huang said that morning. 鈥淭his march is a way of reminding everyone of the importance of this work and that we all, as John Lewis called upon us to do, have to stand up and make 鈥榞ood trouble.鈥欌��
This year was starkly different from previous celebrations. Several buildings were missing. Others were boarded up, not from the economic decline that has plagued Selma in recent years but because of the tornado that tore through the city鈥檚 heart two months ago.
The march culminated a week of events honoring the past but acknowledging the very real, current threats to voter rights. Nonviolence training sessions began last week, but alongside the presentations on voter registration and voter mobilization were groups focused on helping families rebuild their homes and repair the physical damage from January鈥檚 storm.
This year鈥檚 events marked the 58th anniversary of , when marchers were brutally beaten by white state troopers and sheriff鈥檚 deputies, some on horseback, as they tried to cross the bridge on a march to the state Capitol in Montgomery to demand voting rights for Black people.
鈥淭oday is 58 years after Bloody Sunday and the march from Selma to Montgomery that led to the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and also two years after the Jan. 6 insurrection,鈥� Huang said. 鈥淚t has never been more clear that extremism and hate are driving direct threats to our democracy and our civil rights.鈥�
The violence on March 7, 1965, rather than silencing the movement, poured gasoline on the sparks of change. Thousands of activists poured into Selma to join the campaign, culminating in a 54-mile march to the steps of the Alabama Capitol 18 days later and the enactment of the Voting Rights Act the following August.
Struggle on two fronts
For many in Selma today, the struggle is not only for voting rights but day-to-day survival. On the evening of March 3, participants in seminars on voting rights were invited to attend a session on rebuilding Selma, featuring local community leaders and tornado victims. Participants signed up to help rebuild and restore homes across the city on the day before the march.
Others gathered for the annual parade and street festival that day. A battle of the bands kicked off, while seminars on reparations, community mobilizing and voting rights drew members of the crowd.
But on the morning of March 5, the tornado and its aftermath were still top of mind for residents.
鈥淲e had all that damage, but not one life was lost,鈥� said George Hallis, a Selma native who marched for civil rights in 1965.
Hallis was a factory worker in the 1960s when President Lyndon Johnson pushed for the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Although Hallis saw the good in the legislation, the situation on the ground in Selma did not appreciably change, he said.
鈥淭hey came in from Washington and wanted to talk to me,鈥� he said. 鈥淪o they brought me in an office and I told them that they needed to enforce the laws, but not close the plant. Back then, if the owner had to follow the law, they鈥檇 rather shut down. I didn鈥檛 want that. I wanted the law enforced so it would work and we could work.鈥�
Brown Chapel
By Sunday, the traditional trappings of the annual commemoration were firmly in place. The commemorative breakfast honoring Martin Luther King Jr. kicked off the morning before participants split up to attend various church services across the city.
They reconvened after lunch at Brown Chapel for a rally in preparation for the march across the bridge. The church was the starting point for the march on Bloody Sunday and a refuge for injured people after the attack on the bridge.
One contingent of about 25 march participants from the 人兽性交鈥檚 Mississippi state office, including the office鈥檚 director, Waikinya Clanton, attended the rally at Brown Chapel.
Clanton鈥檚 group has been especially active in Mississippi as the state Legislature there has moved to dismantle voting protections, deny funds for critical water infrastructure improvements in majority-Black Jackson and push forward a recent plan to allow white control of the courts and police in that city.
鈥淲e are moving,鈥� Clanton said. 鈥淭hat is what we do. There are so many things that need to be done, we can鈥檛 just sit still.鈥�
As the crowd in Selma moved from the rally to the foot of the bridge at Water Avenue, it merged with the large gathering already in place awaiting remarks from President Joe Biden. Vendors lined the streets as marchers poured into the downtown area.
While the crowd waited, a gospel quartet got things underway in the shadow of the bridge, leading the crowd through several verses of 鈥淭his Little Light of Mine鈥� as well as other anthems from the civil rights movement. A few minutes of silence followed until a burst of cheers and applause broke out when the first vehicles of the presidential motorcade topped the bridge on the way into town.
Demanding voting rights
Several speakers preceded Biden, including Selma Mayor James Perkins Jr. and U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell, who praised the Biden administration for its push to get emergency aid to the community in the wake of January鈥檚 tornado. They also noted the long path ahead with regard to equality for the Black and Brown citizens of Alabama.
鈥淲e need statewide representatives in government,鈥� Sewell said. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 have a single statewide member of our government here today. We don鈥檛 have a single Black leader elected statewide.鈥�
In his comments, Biden specifically noted the uphill battle Black voters face as Alabama legislators push to minimize their voice in future elections.
鈥淭he new law here in Alabama, among other things, enacted a new congressional map that discriminated against Black voters by failing to include what should鈥檝e been a new predominantly Black district,鈥� Biden said. 鈥淭hat case, as you all know better than I, is in front of the U.S. Supreme Court. And my U.S. Department of Justice has joined many of you in arguing that the map violates the Voting Rights Act. All of this comes after a deadly insurrection on January the 6th. We must remain vigilant.鈥�
He also noted his administration鈥檚 attempts to provide voter security for Black citizens in the face of enormous 鈥淛im Crow 2.0鈥� efforts nationwide.
鈥淚n January, I signed the Electoral Count Reform Act to protect the will of the people and 鈥� the peaceful transfer of power,鈥� Biden said. 鈥淏ut we know that we must get the votes in Congress to pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and the Freedom to Vote Act. I鈥檝e made it clear I will not let a filibuster obstruct the sacred right to vote.鈥�
As the president completed his speech and prepared to lead the march across the bridge, the crowd along Broad Street began organizing into groups, each marching unit representing a different church, civil rights group or family.
And then the march began. As Biden led the crowd across, George Hallis was at his side, the 93-year-old foot soldier now leading the army across the Edmund Pettus Bridge.
鈥淭here are two things the Lord tells us we have to do,鈥� Hallis said. 鈥淵ou have to forgive, and you have to repent. We鈥檝e forgiven. Now it is time for those to repent.鈥�
Thousands cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, on March 5, 2023, as part of Bridge Crossing Jubilee weekend. The events were held ahead of the 58th anniversary of Bloody Sunday, when marchers headed to Montgomery were brutally beaten by white state troopers and sheriff鈥檚 deputies. (Credit: Lynsey Weatherspoon)
