born 1999

SELMA "Bloody Sunday"

A march from Selma, Alabama to Montgomery, Alabama. 

March 7, 1965. 

Half of the population of Selma were African Americans, but only 2 percent were allowed to vote. 

This was a result of discriminations as well as tactics to keep African Americans from voting. The 

purpose of the protest was to demand fairness in voter registration. The voting registration campain

was initiated by the SNCC (student non-violent coordenating committee) (blackpast.org). When

demonstrators arrived at the Dallas County court house to attempt to register to vote, they

were physically not allowed to go through the doors.

    The non-violent protesting began with about 600 people with John Lewis as the organizer. Martin

Luther King and the SCLC (Southern Christian Leadership Conference) were other leaders in this

peaceful protest as well. After being denied access to register to vote, the demonstrators began a 

march which was haulted at the Edmund Pettus bridge by state troppers (Americas Library.gov). It was 

here where demonstrators were "tear gassed, clubbed, spat on, whipped, trampled on by horses, and 

jeered by others for demanding the right to register to vote." (Americas Library.gov). The images that

were captured from the  violence at the Edmund Pettis Bridge resulted in demonstrations in support

of the marchers throughout 80 cities in the nation. Although this disrupted the march, it did not stop it.

After 5 days and 54 miles, the march concluded in Montgomery, Alabama. This non-violent protest was 

successful, and on August 6, 1965 the federal voting rights act was passed, which enforced the 15th

Amendment (blackpast.org). 

Picture Citations

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/03/20/the-forgotten-second-selma-march.html

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2012/02/black-history-month-selma-to-montgomery-marches/

http://dreammarcheson.com

http://www.democracynow.org/2015/3/9/voting_rights_remain_under_attack_50

http://www.uulivinglegacy.org/marching-in-the-arc.html

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/selma-bloody-sunday-civil-rights-march-50th-anniversary/

"The First March From Selma." The First March From Selma. Web. 25 Apr. 2016.

"Selma, Alabama, (Bloody Sunday, March 7, 1965) | The Black Past: Remembered and Reclaimed." Selma, Alabama, (Bloody Sunday, March 7, 1965) | The Black Past: Remembered and Reclaimed. Web. 25 Apr. 2016.

Morrison-Reed, Mark D. The Selma Awakening: How the Civil Rights Movement Tested and Changed Unitarian Universalism. Print.

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