Remembering Bloody Sunday and the fight for voting rights

Today (March 3) commemorates the 59th anniversary of Bloody Sunday, the day civil rights demonstrators risked life and limb while state troopers battered them amid their fight for equal voting rights during a march across Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, on March 7, 1965.

Among the historical figures whose blood was shed that day were the late Congressman John Lewis, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and Rev. Hosea Williams, to name a few. It is believed that as many as 600 people endured the brutal attacks that served as a turning point in this country, ultimately leading to the passage of the Voting Rights Act. The landmark legislation prohibits racial discrimination as well as federal, state and local governments from impeding a person’s right to vote.

The acts of selflessness and bravery of those men and women are honored every year on the first Sunday of March with a unified walk across that very bridge. This year, at the commemorative trek, Vice President Kamala Harris will be in attendance, and she will also deliver remarks about the moment in history.

“During her speech, the Vice President will honor the legacy of the civil rights movement, address the ongoing work to achieve justice for all, and encourage Americans to continue the fight for fundamental freedoms that are under attack throughout the country,” according to the White House, per NBC News.

President Joe Biden will be absent from the service, but he issued words regarding the occasion in a statement shared on Twitter. “Fifty-nine years ago, brave Americans sought to cross a bridge named after a Klansman in Selma, Alabama, to reach the other side of justice. Today and every day, we honor that legacy by fighting to protect the right to vote and uphold the integrity of our elections,” said Biden. “We know where we’ve been and we know, more importantly, where we have to go: forward together. So, let’s pray, but let’s not rest. Let’s keep marching.”

Bernice King wrote, in part, “We remember the heroic nonviolent foot soldiers who risked their lives fighting for voting rights on Bloody Sunday… The work isn’t done — let’s constitutionalize voting rights.” The Martin Luther King Center in Atlanta also honored the day with a message stating that “what we must fight for now [is]: protection of voting rights, a strengthened democracy, and a just, humane society.”

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