|
After a second failed attempt where Dr. King turned around hundreds of marchers in fear of more violence, activists in Selma were determined to complete a march from Selma to Montgomery. They set a new date. Influenced by footage of Bloody Sunday, President Lyndon Johnson sent over 100 members of the U.S. National Guard to protect the marchers. The protesters in Selma had already triumphed by gaining the nation’s attention, but the hardest part was yet to come.
|
President Johnson delivering "We Shall Overcome" speech (WBUR Boston)
|
On March 21, 1965, Dr. King successfully led over 3,000 marchers across the Edmund Pettus Bridge. Alongside him were religious leaders from around the world, including rabbis and priests. Some carried suitcases, prepared for the 54-mile march. Protected by the National Guard, the protesters cheered as they reached the end of the bridge. For the next three days, marchers slowly made their way through roads, woods, over bridges, through towns. When resting periodically, they were interviewed by eager reporters. Each night, the activists were dropped off to sleep in tents and given food. At times, they marched through mud in pouring rain, but they refused to quit, and the media captured their resilience.
There are no broad highways that lead us easily and inevitably to quick solutions. But we must keep going."
-Dr. King (Speech at Montgomery)
Marchers file into Montgomery (Encyclopedia of Alabama)
|
On day five, the crowd swelled to 30,000. Marchers neared the capital, urging people in the streets to join them. When they reached Montgomery, Dr. King triumphantly addressed the crowd.
|
Marchers arm in arm (USAToday)
|
Dr. King addressing the marchers (International Action Center)
|
"Our whole campaign in Alabama has been centered around the right to vote. In focusing the attention of the nation and the world today on the flagrant denial of the right to vote, we are exposing the very origin, the root cause, of racial segregation in the Southland.... Let us therefore continue our triumphant march to the realization of the American dream." -Dr. Martin Luther King (Speech at Montgomery) |