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Forty Years after ‘Bloody Sunday,’ SCLC to Remember and Relive History
Date: Monday, February 28, 2005
By: Michael H. Cottman





On Sunday, March 7, 1965, over 500 peaceful demonstrators converged on Selma, Alabama, attempting to march to Montgomery on Route 80. The marchers got as far as the Edmund Pettus Bridge, less than a mile from its starting point, before they were attacked with clubs and tear gassed by state and local law enforcement, who forced the beaten masses back into Selma.

That infamous day, known since as Bloody Sunday, became the catalyst in the waking and shaking of America’s conscience about the brutal mistreatment of blacks in the South struggling for equality and seeking the right to vote.

Two days later, Dr. Martin Luther King staged a march to the bridge, then civil rights leaders sought –- and were granted -– court-ordered protection for a larger, full-scale march from Selma to Montgomery.

Two weeks later, over 3,000 people began the trek from Selma, walking by day and sleeping in fields along the way. The throng had grown to 25,000 by the time the undeterred marchers arrived in Montgomery four days later.

Soon afterward, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

The fearlessness and sacrifice of those brave marchers will be feted 40 years after that historic afternoon, when the Southern Christian Leadership Conference joins the National Voting Rights Museum, Montgomery Friends of the Historic Trail and thousands of others on Sunday, March 6 to commemorate the anniversary of Bloody Sunday and reenact the 1965 Selma-to-Montgomery march.

The anniversary celebrations are poignant reminders of the sacrifices made by people of courage so black Americans can vote today, according to civil rights leaders and congressional membership.

SCLC President Charles Steele Jr. said Bloody Sunday and the march from Selma to Montgomery “stand as a testament to the sacrifices made in the triumph to preserve black Americans right to vote and a tribute to the thousands of people, from all nationalities and walks of life, who preserved and brought about one of the most crucial enactments in American history, the Voting Rights Act of 1965.”

The reenactment will also include stop-overs at historical landmarks along the 54-mile trek.

“We must never forget our past,” Steele said in a statement. “There is nothing better than putting people face-to-face with history. To retrace the steps of Dr. King and other civil rights heroes is an experience that is far better than any lesson found between the pages of a book.”

“It’s important for us to recognize the sacrifices that were made by so many African Americans and other Americans, who took beatings to show they believed in our democracy,” Hilary Shelton, director of the NAACP’s Washington, D.C. bureau, told BlackAmericaWeb.com in an interview Friday.

Rev. Jesse L. Jackson agreed that the march, which is open to the public and will also include local and state Republican organizations, carries historical significance not only for blacks, but for all Americans.

“We were denied our right to vote, and we faced bloody acts of terrorism from our government,” Jackson told BlackAmericaWeb.com. “Bloody Sunday exposed our nation and embarrassed our nation. It was a global embarrassment.”

Jackson praised the pending reenactment of the Selma-to-Montgomery march, saying it should serve as a reminder for those who may believe the struggle for racial equality is over.

“As long as there are disparities in health care, disparities in access to wealth and disparities in education, the struggle is not over. The struggle continues,” Jackson said.

Black Democratic congressional leaders said civil rights demonstrations -- alongside vocal, vigilant support for programs that address the concerns of blacks -- are as important in 2005 as they were in 1965.

The 43-member Congressional Black Caucus met with President George W. Bush in a rare meeting at the White House last month. Congressional leaders said they used the one-hour session to present Bush with a nine-point domestic agenda outlining critical social and economic disparities between blacks and whites that still exist 40 years after civil rights legislation was signed.

U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) told BlackAmericaWeb.com Friday that she plans to attend the reenactment march “with a recommitment of voice and energy to the idea of a new civil rights movement.”

“Our task,” she said, “is not yet finished.”

We ALL hope that THIS True LIVING WITNESS to ALABAMA WHITE TERROR will:


Issue a statement------or-------

Give a speech----------or----------

Visit the Crime Scene on the Anniversary of this Terrible Event in American History:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4302605.stm