The Selma to Montgomery marches consisted of three civil rights protests occuring in 1965, and held in Alabama, a southern state with ingrained racist policies. Protesters began marching the 54-mile route from Selma to the state capital of Montgomery in attempts to register black voters in the South. The protestors were confronted with deadly violence from local authorities and white vigilante groups. Beaten and shocked by billy clubs and cattle prods, trampled by horses, and choked by clouds of tear gas, the marchers fell back and fled for their lives. When someone called for an ambulance, Selma’s Sheriff, Jim Clark, replied, “Let the buzzards eat them.” President Lyndon Johnson later compared the assault to Lexington and Concord, a turning
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The fight for access to the polls is the story of The Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail, which commemorates the events, people, and route of the 1965 Voting Rights March in Alabama. Visitors can drive the historic route from Selma to Montgomery crossing the Edmund Pettus Bridge. In Selma, they can take the Martin Luther King, Jr. Street Walking Tour, which includes Brown Chapel A.M.E. Church, First Baptist Church, Carver Homes and wayside exhibits, and other sites.
Conclusion
Over five decades have passed since thousands of courageous people organized several marches from Selma to Montgomery to peacefully protest voter discrimination blacks were facing in Alabama and all over the south. The marches were a prime event that started the Civil Rights Movement, and the empowerment of African Americans. The haunting scenes from the Edmund Pettus Bridge and the legislative response by the 89th Congress (1965–1967) did not happen in a vacuum, however, and years later the U.S. House continues to observe and learn from the event's history.
When looking at these marches we can allow ourselves to see not only amount of blood shed, but the triumphant success of African Americans. As Trey Mudge, a partaker in the marches states, “something new, exciting and promising could be just over the
The fight for access to the polls is the story of The Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail, which commemorates the events, people, and route of the 1965 Voting Rights March in Alabama. Visitors can drive the historic route from Selma to Montgomery crossing the Edmund Pettus Bridge. In Selma, they can take the Martin Luther King, Jr. Street Walking Tour, which includes Brown Chapel A.M.E. Church, First Baptist Church, Carver Homes and wayside exhibits, and other sites.
Conclusion
Over five decades have passed since thousands of courageous people organized several marches from Selma to Montgomery to peacefully protest voter discrimination blacks were facing in Alabama and all over the south. The marches were a prime event that started the Civil Rights Movement, and the empowerment of African Americans. The haunting scenes from the Edmund Pettus Bridge and the legislative response by the 89th Congress (1965–1967) did not happen in a vacuum, however, and years later the U.S. House continues to observe and learn from the event's history.
When looking at these marches we can allow ourselves to see not only amount of blood shed, but the triumphant success of African Americans. As Trey Mudge, a partaker in the marches states, “something new, exciting and promising could be just over the