3 things we learned from the Selma marches ✊🏾 🪧 #BlackHistoryMonth

Photo by Unseen Histories on Unsplash

One of the most pivotal moments during the Civil Rights Movement was the Selma marches. In March 1965, a series of nonviolent marches were planned to protest African Americans' inability to vote in the South due to Jim Crow laws. The marches went from Selma, Alabama to Montgomery, the state's capital.

Selma was chosen as the starting place for two reasons:

1. Only 2% of Black Americans were registered to vote.

2. The organizers knew how violent the local police were and planned to use this to draw awareness to push for federal legislation for voting rights.

Through the sacrifices of the marchers, there are important lessons we can learn from them.

The first thing we learned from the Selma marches was civil disobedience. Civil disobedience is defined as "refusal to obey governmental demands or commands." This is often accomplished through nonviolent acts such as protests.

The marches from Selma to Montgomery were an act of civil disobedience as marchers sought to draw awareness to the injustice of Black Americans being able to exercise their right to vote.

During the first march, the violent police response to the marchers' attempt to cross Edmund Pettus Bridge became known as Bloody Sunday. People around the world saw the violence that the marchers were subjected to while refusing to fight back. It led to increased support for the movement.

The second thing we learned from the Selma marches is resilience. After Bloody Sunday, the marchers could have given up on their fight for voting rights in the South. They had been severely beaten and injured by the Alabama police for attempting to cross into Montgomery. Instead, they made two more trips.

The second trip known as Turnaround Tuesday occurred days after Bloody Sunday and was led by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., where Alabama police once again met them at the bridge. However, they didn’t cross the bridge.

Instead, they prayed and turned around under the orders of Dr. King. He feared that police were trying for a “federal injunction prohibiting the march."  The marchers didn't give up.

Instead, they held a third trip. Finally, they crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge to reach Montgomery with protection from the US Army and the Alabama National Guard after the intervention of President Lyndon B. Johnson.

The final thing we learned from the Selma marches is faith. The gospel song "We Shall Overcome" became the anthem for the Civil Rights Movement as it speaks to overcoming hardship and having hope for a better future.

After Bloody Sunday, President Johnson delivered a speech referencing the song to call for a voting rights bill. The speech originally titled "The American Promise" became known as the "We Shall Overcome" speech.

Two weeks after Johnson's speech, the marchers reached Montgomery, Alabama on their third march. Dr. King delivered a speech known as "Our God is Marching On". In it, he spoke about the marchers' faith in pushing for change:

But if we will go on with the faith that nonviolence and its power can transform dark yesterdays into bright tomorrows, we will be able to change all of these conditions.