Attendees chant and march in protest of voter suppression. Photo by Morgan Hunt Glaze. In print Issue 11 of VOL 93, the above photo was miscredited to a photographer that was not Morgan Hunt Glaze. The Alabamian staff extends their deepest apologies to Ms. Hunt.
In 1965, Martin Luther King Jr. attempted to lead a peaceful protest from Brown Chapel in Selma, Alabama, across the Edmund Pettus Bridge, to the state capital in Montgomery.
The march’s purpose was to raise protesters’ voices in regards to the disenfranchisement of African Americans voters. Upon their arrival to the now-infamous bridge, those assembled were beaten and tear gassed by waiting police officers. Then-26-year-old man Spider Martin captured the tragedy on black and white film, and the event was henceforth referred to as “Bloody Sunday.”
The City of Selma now hosts an annual “Jubilee” weekend to honor those foot soldiers by inviting them to cross the bridge once again, but this time alongside friends and family to celebrate King’s life and triumphs. It is both a commemoration of “Bloody Sunday” and an evolving political stage.
On the 54th celebration that took place Saturday, March 2, Senator and presidential candidate Cory Booker, D-N.J., spoke at the same Brown Chapel and challenged the growth of the U.S., stating, “The ‘dream’ is under attack.”
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., and civil rights activist Jesse Jackson were also in attendance for the 2019 reenactment.
Because of voter suppression measures many states have enacted in recent years, such as barriers to registration, discriminatory district maps and restrictions on when and how ballots are cast, these leaders expressed fear that the U.S. is regressing, rather than moving forward.
Volunteers echoed this sentiment, laying down on the bridge in a symbolic plea for voter rights with signs reading, “Lift our vote 2020.”
In honor of Spider Martin, UM documentary photography students photographed the bridge crossing reenactment and church service at Brown Chapel.
Sen. Booker and others pray before the bridge crossing. A bystander holds a sign saying, “I was a dream. I am the dream. I have the dream. We are dreamers.” Photo by Kat Bell An attendee proudly raises his Black Lives Matter flag. Photo by Kat Bell 2020 Presidential candidate Sen. Booker spekas with a member of the crowd. Photo by Kat Bell A young girl marching with her family in the 54th Edmund Pettus Bridge crossing. Photo by Kat Bell Hillary Clinton and Sen. Booker exchange words during the march. Photo by Kat Bell Sen. Booker embraces crowd member. Photo by Morgan Hunt Glaze Elementary students sitting up after laying down in protest of voter suppression. Photo by Kat Bell A young boy holds an Afro-American pride flag. Photo by Kat Bell
