It has now been more than 50 years since the historic march for voting rights from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, which started on March 21, 1965 and ended on March 25.
On Sunday, March 21, close to 8,000 people assembled at Brown Chapel A.M.E. Church to commence the trek to Montgomery. Most of the participants were black, but some were white and some were Asian and Latino. Spiritual leaders of multiple races, religions, and creeds marched abreast with Dr. King, including Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth, Greek Orthodox Archbishop Iakovos, Rabbis Abraham Joshua Heschel and Maurice Davis, and at least one nun, all of whom were depicted in a photo that has become famous. The Dutch priest Henri Nouwen joined the march on March 24.
Those hard-won rights—paid for in blood, sweat, and tears—are being eroded and stripped away. So while we celebrate the courage of those who fought and marched before many reading this today were even born, it is up to all of us to continue to fight for the right of every voting age citizen to have access to the ballot.
In his address at the conclusion of the march, Dr. King exhorted the crowd:
Let us march on ballot boxes, (Let’s march) march on ballot boxes until race-baiters disappear from the political arena.
Let us march on ballot boxes until the salient misdeeds of bloodthirsty mobs (Yes, sir) will be transformed into the calculated good deeds of orderly citizens. (Speak, Doctor)
Let us march on ballot boxes (Let us march) until the Wallaces of our nation tremble away in silence.
Let us march on ballot boxes (Let us march) until we send to our city councils (Yes, sir), state legislatures, (Yes, sir) and the United States Congress, (Yes, sir) men who will not fear to do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with thy God.
Let us march on ballot boxes (Let us march. March) until brotherhood becomes more than a meaningless word in an opening prayer, but the order of the day on every legislative agenda.
Let us march on ballot boxes (Yes) until all over Alabama God’s children will be able to walk the earth in decency and honor.
A powerful and recently rediscovered film made during the 1965 Selma to Montgomery march for voting rights, Stefan Sharff's intimate documentary reflects his youthful work in the montage style under the great Russian filmmaker Sergei Eisenstein. The film features moving spirituals. Marchers include Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his wife Coretta Scott King. (NJ state film festival)
The end of the march was full of joy, and also terrible tragedy.
On the morning of March 24, the march crossed into Montgomery County and the highway widened again to four lanes. All day as the march approached the city, additional marchers were ferried by bus and car to join the line. By evening, several thousand marchers had reached the final campsite at the City of St. Jude, a complex on the outskirts of Montgomery. That night on a makeshift stage, a "Stars for Freedom" rally was held, with singers Harry Belafonte, Tony Bennett, Frankie Laine, Peter, Paul and Mary, Sammy Davis, Jr., Joan Baez, Nina Simone and The Chad Mitchell Trio[93] all performing.[94] Thousands more people continued to join the march.
On Thursday, March 25, 25,000 people marched from St. Jude to the steps of the State Capitol Building where King delivered the speech How Long, Not Long. He said:
"The end we seek is a society at peace with itself, a society that can live with its conscience. ... I know you are asking today, How long will it take? I come to say to you this afternoon however difficult the moment, however frustrating the hour, it will not be long."
After delivering the speech, King and the marchers approached the entrance to the capitol with a petition for Governor Wallace. A line of state troopers blocked the door. One announced that the governor was not in. Undeterred, the marchers remained at the entrance until one of Wallace's secretaries appeared and took the petition. Later that night, Viola Liuzzo, a white mother of five from Detroit who had come to Alabama to support voting rights for blacks, was assassinated by Ku Klux Klan members while she was ferrying marchers back to Selma from Montgomery.
Fast forward 50 years and we are still marching. Demanding voting rights.
Groups like Moral Mondays in North Carolina have made voting rights their number one priority, and are fighting to restore the Voting Rights Act.
This year, the theme of the NAACP Convention, which will be held in Cincinnati, Ohio, from July 16 to July 20, will be “Our Lives Matter, Our Votes Count.”
From their press release:
The NAACP’s 107th National Convention will feature workshops, discussions and speakers highlighting voter education, voter protection and voter mobilization.
“When the right of every citizen to vote is under threat in states across the nation, we must join together to respond and be heard,” Roslyn M. Brock, chairman of the NAACP’s National Board of Directors. “In towns and cities across this country, we are witnessing a new era of activism as a new generation rises to stand against police brutality and for the right to be heard in our democracy. We must harness that desire to be heard and mobilize our members to protect the vote and to get out the vote.”
They have also called for Congress to take action on the voting rights legislation that is in front of them.
Republicans are stalling, because the last thing they want is for people to have voting rights in the year of a national election.
The ACLU states:
“Voting is the cornerstone of our democracy and the fundamental right upon which all our civil liberties rest. The ACLU works to protect and expand Americansʼ freedom to vote.”
Since 2008, states across the country have passed measures to make it harder for Americans—particularly black people, the elderly, students, and people with disabilities—to exercise their fundamental right to cast a ballot. These measures include voter ID laws, cuts to early voting, and purges of voter rolls.
In June 2013, in a massive blow to civil rights and democracy, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the current coverage formula of the Voting Rights Act. The ACLU has been fighting this rollback of voting rights through both advocacy and litigation and is working to expand the right to vote for all Americans by challenging criminal disenfranchisement laws and expanding same-day and online voter registration.
Take a look at their map to see voter suppression that has taken place since 2012.
In 2016, 10 states will be putting into place restrictive voting laws that they will be enforcing for the first time in a presidential election. These laws range from new hurdles to registration to cutbacks on early voting to strict voter identification requirements. Collectively, these ten states are home to over 80 million people and will wield 129 of the 270 electoral votes necessary to win the presidency.
As part of the pushback, liberal donors like George Soros are funding get out the vote (GOTV) efforts in Latino and Asian communities.
We can’t go through another 50 years of voter repression, gerrymandering, and redistricting. Let us know what actions are taking place in your area, and what you are doing to organize.
The time to fight for the vote is now!