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Hundreds gathered Sunday at the Edmund Pettus Bridge to symbolically replicate the historic Bloody Sunday march that took place 60 years ago.
But the real way to honor the memory of those Civil Rights leaders who put their lives on the line is to continue the march for justice every day, leaders of the Southern Poverty Law Center said.
“Our rights are at risk,” SPLC Director Margararet Huang told a crowd at a wreath-laying ceremony Friday honoring the 40 martyrs who lost their lives during the Civil Rights Movement. “We should honor these … martyrs by not backing down; the fight for justice continues … Like those who marched before us, we find ourselves at a crossroads in this country. Between those who want to suppress the vote, to discriminate against those who are different, and those who envision a multiracial democracy that protects the rights of every human being.”
The SPLC hosted numerous events over the weekend to celebrate the history of Bloody Sunday and reenergize people to continue fighting for justice.
“Remember when we reflect on these atrocities, it’s not just a relic of the distant past,” said U.S. Congresswoman Nikema Williams, who now occupies the Georgia Congressional seat long held by Civil Rights icon John Lewis. “We’re still facing a lot of the same struggles.”
Williams said Black citizens are once again seeing their voting rights threatened.
On March 5, U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell reintroduced the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act (HR 14). The bill, cosponsored by every House Democrat, would restore and update the protections of 1965’s VRA to counter voter suppression today.
“While we might not be counting jellybeans in a jar,” said Williams, referencing a Jim Crow-era tactic used to prevent Black people from voting, “we have seen enough of the voter suppression tactics across these Southern states and across the country that we need to make sure that voting is standardized so that everyone has free and fair access to the ballot — no matter your ZIP code.”
Following the wreath-laying ceremony, a crowd of more than 50 attendees, led by students from Miles College, the University of Alabama and other Alabama colleges, marched from the Civil Rights Memorial to rally at the steps of the Alabama Capitol. Earlier in the day, the students had participated in a workshop on reimagining democracy that was organized by the SPLC’s Learning for Justice program. Some held signs that demanded increased access to health care, equity for Alabama’s children and more school funding.
Standing at the foot of the Capitol steps almost 60 years later, speakers from the SPLC, the ACLU of Alabama and the University of Alabama, and from grassroots organizations, reminded the crowd that justice rarely comes to those who simply wait. Instead, they encouraged people listening to organize for community action, vote and unite for the common good.
“What greater moral duty do we have than the liberation of all people?” said Jack Slate, a state community organizer in the SPLC’s Alabama state office. “We live in a nation divided by the people who would say that this fight is already lost. But I tell you right now that this fight is never lost. Political revolution is not some single, great, impactful act. It is the sum total of a thousand refusals. It is speaking when they demand silence. It is organizing when they demand that we be alone. It is protesting, marching, resisting in any way that we can.”
During a dinner reception at the Renaissance Montgomery Hotel & Spa at the Convention Center Friday evening, the SPLC presented six community advocates with Jubilee awards for their work to change and improve their communities at the grassroots level.
Awardees included Alabama Fourth District Judge Vernetta Perkins, Warren Tidwell, Norma Jackson, Beverly Cooper, Amelia Bacon and Portia Shepherd.
Collectively, the recipients’ advocacy work spans children’s policy, improving climate change resilience in rural communities, the preservation of community history, voter education and the intersection of gender and poverty.
