May 11, 2025

OP-ED: On Bloody Sunday’s 56-Year Mark, President Biden’s Words Remind Americans That Democracy Needs a Renewed Push for Voting Rights

In many cases, the same baseless and thinly-veiled rationales used to challenge ballot access in the 1960s are resurfacing today in support of these efforts to shrink our democracy. Top left: Alabama police attack Selma to Montgomery marchers, known as "Bloody Sunday," in 1965 Top right: Marchers carrying banner "We march with Selma!" on street in Harlem, New York City, New York in 1965 Bottom left: Participants in the Selma to Montgomery march in Alabama during 1965 Bottom right: Dr. Martin Luther King, Dr. Ralph David Abernathy, their families, and others leading the Selma to Montgomery march in 1965 (Photos: Wikimedia Commons)

“Fifty-six years ago, Bloody Sunday marked a turning point in our nation’s civil rights movement. The brutal assault on peaceful civil rights demonstrators ranging from the young to the elderly left an indelible imprint on the collective conscience of the nation and led to the passage of the landmark Voting Rights Act of 1965, our nation’s most important federal civil rights law.

IN MEMORIAM: Leaders reflect on the life of Congressman John Lewis

THE CHICAGO CRUSADER — On Sunday, March 7, 1965 in Selma, Alabama, Lewis and fellow activist Hosea Williams led hundreds of marchers across the Edmund Pettus Bridge. They were on their way to the state capitol fighting for the right to vote. On the other side of the bridge were the Alabama State Troopers on horses. After crossing the bridge, the troopers attacked marchers and beat Lewis with a club. He suffered a fractured skull that nearly killed him. The incident became known as “Bloody Sunday.”

IN MEMORIAM: The World Mourns A True Icon and Freedom Fighter – John Lewis 1940-2020

NNPA NEWSWIRE — The legislator, freedom fighter and justice warrior, who was famously beaten, bloodied and arrested in Selma, Alabama — and in other cities across the Jim Crow South — during the struggle for civil rights and racial equality, was 80. His death came just hours after another the passing of another civil rights icon, Rev. C.T. Vivian, who was 95.

Search