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Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the U.S. Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division traveled to Selma, Alabama, over the weekend to commemorate the 58th anniversary of Bloody Sunday and meet with local organizations about the Justice Department’s commitment to civil rights and racial justice.
Sunday morning, Assistant Attorney General Clarke spoke at the Martin and Coretta King Unity Breakfast at Wallace Community College Selma reflecting on the painful history of Bloody Sunday and enumerating the Justice Department’s recent enforcement work to defend the civil rights of all people.
She said: “To quote Dr. King: ‘Selma, Alabama, became a shining moment in the conscience of man. If the worst in American life lurked in its dark streets, the best of American instincts arose passionately from across the nation to overcome it.’ The Civil Rights Division at the Justice Department is driven by that same belief. We are committed to defending the civil rights of all people in our country.”
Read her full remarks here.
Later that morning, she spoke at a worship service hosted by the historic Brown Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church. She said, “John Lewis may not be with us today, but … we all know that he fought the good fight. Today, our charge – indeed our sacred mission – is to pick up the baton that he has handed us and continue the fight for justice. The commemoration of Bloody Sunday is a moment to redouble our efforts to ensure that every American has voice in our democracy.” Read her full remarks here.
In the afternoon, Assistant Attorney General Clarke crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge with a delegation of U.S Attorneys and hundreds of people, including civil rights leaders, distinguished clergy, elected officials and residents of Alabama.
Today, Assistant Attorney General Clarke will travel to Montgomery, Alabama, to meet with the U.S. Attorneys of the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee Civil Rights Subcommittee, the Equal Justice Initiative and other civil rights stakeholders.
