Marchers recreate final leg of 1965 Selma-to-Montgomery march
Local elected officials, civil rights leaders and dignitaries walked more than 3 miles from St. Jude Catholic Church to the Alabama State Capitol on Sunday, replicating the final leg of the 1965 Selma-to-Montgomery march.
Sunday's event ended with speeches celebrating the courage and honoring the sacrifice of those on the march, which led to the Voting Rights Act. But speakers also offered a stark warning that there is more work ahead.
'We celebrate the 60th anniversary of this campaign with a spirit of hope and my optimism in our very troubled times,' said Martin Luther King III, son of Martin Luther King Jr., who delivered his 'How Long, Not Long' speech on the Alabama State Capitol steps at the end of the 1965 march. 'The freedom that we won in this historic campaign was purchased with the precious blood of martyrs whose names are indelibly etched in America's freedom journey.'
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King, speaking to about 200 people, mentioned several people on the march, including Jimmie Lee Jackson, who was shot and killed by Alabama state troopers during a peaceful protest in Marion. Jackson's death inspired the march.
King also mentioned Viola Liuzzo, a Detroit civil rights activist and mother of five who participated in the march and was shot and killed by three members of the Ku Klux Klan as she was driving between cities to transport people participating in the march.
He then spoke of others, including former U.S. Rep. John Lewis who was beaten on the Edmund Pettus Bridge during Bloody Sunday, and his father; mother Coretta Scott King and staff members who supported them.
'We need to make sure that history is enshrined because it is said that a people that do not remember their history are doomed to repeat it,' King said.
King urged Congress to pass the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Act, which would restore federal review of voting laws passed by states or localities with histories of voting discrimination. The U.S. Supreme Court struck down the requirement in Shelby County v. Holder in 2013.
Sheyann Webb-Christburg, who participated in the events in 1965, also spoke to give the crowd a sense of the magnitude of that moment.
'This was the post traumatic experience of my life as a child,' Webb-Christburg said to the crowd on Sunday. 'The picture of Bloody Sunday has never left my heart.'
Montgomery Mayor Steven L. Reed, who delivered the opening address, said that despite advancements made through the Voting Rights Act, people have yet to fully exercise their right to vote.
'Nine million Black voters stayed at home in the November election, more than enough to make up the difference of where we are in America,' he said. 'Right here in Montgomery County, only 55% of eligible voters turned out to vote. That is somewhat getting comfortable and complacent, not understanding the sacrifices, not understanding the challenges, not understanding the balance that will fall on their behalf.'
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