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Fifty years ago, police in Selma, Ala., brutally beat peaceful protestors attempting to march over the now infamous Edmund Pettus Bridge — a roadway named after a Grand Wizard of the Klu Klux Klan — to demonstrate in support of voting rights.
That day, dubbed “Bloody Sunday,” left many, including Congressman John Lewis, battered and seriously injured. It did not, however, break their spirit. Two days later Dr. Martin Luther King led a couple thousand back to the bridge in an attempt to march to Montgomery. They turned around, but only days later (March 21) the march continued with the protection of Army troops. Now, 50 years later we remember Bloody Sunday as the event that ushered in the Voting Rights Act, which President Lyndon B. Johnson signed into law in August of 1965.
Today, March 7, we reflect on an event filled with so much pain and horror that ultimately changed the landscape of American politics. But we also acknowledge the parallels — with the recent release of a scathing Justice Department report detailing the racist practices of the Ferguson, Mo. police department and the killing of black men, women and children at the hands of law enforcement, it’s clear that Selma then is Selma now.
The work is not done.
To keep up on the latest from this weekend’s commemoration, see our live blog below:
PRESIDENT OBAMA TO SPEAK 12:15 P.M. EST
11:15 AM EST: According to ABC News, the blaze has been “contained.”
Washington, D.C, firefighters had contained the blaze at a vendor cart east of the North Lawn, said Secret Service officials. The president was scheduled to leave about 10:30 a.m.
10:48 AM EST: White House on lockdown. President Obama’s departure delayed.
Press pool says cause of White House lockdown was fire/smoke issue with vendor cart at 15th/G. Alerted by K9.
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) March 7, 2015
2 separate causes for White House lockdown. One a suspicious vehicle at 16th and Constitution being swept, the other a vendor cart fire
— Michael van Poppel (@mpoppel) March 7, 2015
White House is on lockdown after a loud noise was heard as press gathered outside for departure of Obama to Selma, according to pool report.
— Katharine Lackey (@katharinelackey) March 7, 2015
#SELMA50 UPDATES:
Bloody Sunday: The Nation Commemorates 50th Anniversary Of Selma March (LIVE BLOG) was originally published on newsone.com
