Selma

Selma

(part of an ongoing series about activities during my sabbatical)

On our next stage of our journey we traveled west from Montgomery to Selma, the starting point of a 50+ mile march that ended in Montgomery and played a significant role in the introduction and passage of the Voting Rights Act by the US Congress. There is a lot to the story (a good summary can be found here: https://www.britannica.com/event/Selma-March)

The short version of the story was that leaders in the Civil Rights Movement conceived the idea of a march from Selma to Montgomery in protest of civil rights violations and police violence including, but not limited to, the killing of Jimmie Lee Jackson. The first time the marchers tried to depart Selma (March 7, 1965), led by John Lewis (who at that time was chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, and later went on to serve in politics in many ways including decades in the US House of Representatives), they were met by police who attacked them in what became known as Bloody Sunday. The marchers were attacked with billy clubs and bull whips and overrun by horses, leaving over 50 of them, including Lewis, hospitalized.

This action spurred the president, Lyndon B. Johnson, to introduce the Voting Rights Act. Several weeks later, marchers again departed under the protection of US troops and federal marchers ending with nearly 25,000 poeple gathered 5 days later at the Alabama state capitol. At this gathering, Martin Luther King Jr gave his “How Long, Not Long” speech which includes his oft-quoted line, “How long? Not long, because the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”

Once again we were amazed at the courage and tenacity of the everyday “foot soldiers” of this struggle for rights and freedom. Imagine gathering at Brown Chapel AME Church in Selma with 600 others and then marching the six blocks to the Edmund Pettus Bridge (named for a Confederate general and Grand Dragon of the Ku Klux Klan) to be met by sheriffs, “deputized” citizens and state troopers whose sole purpose there was to prevent a peaceful walk and demonstration. Then, having been trained in the way of nonviolence to walk across the bridge knowing those on the other side would respond with violence.

That is the bravery and fortitude of the people involved that day and throughout the Civil Rights Movement. Women, men, and children (more on that when we get to Birmingham) who had been oppressed and denied dignity and basic rights marched and protested so that they and their descendants might see a better day.  

We had the privilege of meeting George Sallie (pictured below), one of those who was there on Bloody Sunday, marched, and suffered injuries because of it. We talked with him and he shared that he came back from fighting in the Korean War and it hit him that while he had been fighting for freedom overseas, he didn’t have true freedom back at home. He also shared how his faith in Jesus was what gave him courage and also helped him to know what needed to be done, that he could not simply sit by and allow injustice to continue.

We walked across the bridge in memory of those who endured the beatings, to remember and as a pledge to be a part of seeking justice for all.

We will remember,

Carl Franzon, Pastor