Greene County Democrat

Tag: Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma

  • Newswire : ‘Bloody Sunday’ 60th anniversary marked in Selma with remembrances and concerns about the future

    State troopers swing billy clubs to break up a civil rights voting march in Selma, Ala., on Bloody Sunday.AP files

    By The Associated Press

    SELMA, Ala. — Charles Mauldin was near the front of a line of voting rights marchers walking in pairs across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama on March 7, 1965.
    The marchers were protesting white officials’ refusal to allow Black Alabamians to register to vote, as well as the killing days earlier of Jimmie Lee Jackson, a minister and voting rights organizer who was shot by a state trooper in nearby Marion.
    At the apex of the span over the Alabama River, they saw what awaited them: a line of state troopers, deputies and men on horseback. After they approached, law enforcement gave a warning to disperse and then unleashed violence.
    “Within about a minute or a half, they took their billy clubs, holding it on both ends, began to push us back, back us up, and then they began to beat men, women and children, and tear gas men, women and children, and cattle prod men, women and children viciously,” said Mauldin, who was 17 at the time.
    Mauldin is the founder of the Saturday morning ‘Footsoldiers Breakfast’ at the Bridge Crossing Jubilee, at which persons who participated in the march tell their stories
    Selma on Sunday marked the 60th anniversary of the clash that became known as Bloody Sunday. The attack shocked the nation and galvanized support for the U.S. Voting Rights Act of 1965. The annual commemoration paid homage to those who fought to secure voting rights for Black Americans and brought calls to recommit to the fight for equality.
    For foot soldiers of the movement, the celebration comes amid concerns about new voting restrictions and the Trump administration’s effort to remake federal agencies they said helped make America a democracy for all.
    “This country was not a democracy for Black folks until that happened,” Mauldin said of voting rights. “And we’re still constantly fighting to make that a more concrete reality for ourselves.”
    Speaking at the pulpit of the city’s historic Tabernacle Baptist Church, the site of the first mass meeting of the voting rights movement, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said what happened in Selma changed the nation. But he said the 60th anniversary comes at a time when there is “trouble all around” and some “want to whitewash our history.” But he said like the marchers of Bloody Sunday, they must keep going.
    “At this moment, faced with trouble on every side, we’ve got to press on,” Jeffries said to the crowd that included the Rev. Jesse Jackson, multiple members of Congress and others gathered for the commemoration.
    U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell, D-Ala., said they are gathering in Selma for the 60th anniversary “at a time when the vote is in peril.”

    Sewell noted the number of voting restrictions introduced since the U.S. Supreme Court, in Shelby County vs. Holder, effectively abolished a key part of the Voting Rights Act that required jurisdictions with a history of racial discrimination to pre-clear new voting laws with the Justice Department
    Sewell this week reintroduced legislation to restore the requirement. The proposal has repeatedly stalled in Congress. The legislation is named for John Lewis, the late Georgia congressman who was at the lead of the Bloody Sunday march.
    The annual celebration will conclude with a ceremony and march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge. At the time, the Bloody Sunday marchers walked in pairs across the Selma bridge. Mauldin was in the third pair of the line led by Lewis and Hosea Williams.
    “We had steeled our nerves to a point where we were so determined that we were willing to confront. It was past being courageous. We were determined, and we were indignant,” Mauldin recalled in an interview with The Associated Press. Mauldin, who took a blow to the head, said he believes law enforcement officers were trying to incite a riot as they attacked marchers.
    Kirk Carrington was just 13 on Bloody Sunday. As the violence erupted, a white man on a horse wielding a stick a chased him all the way back to the public housing projects in Selma where his family lived.
    Carrington said he started marching after witnessing his father get belittled by his white employers when his father returned from service in World War II. Standing in Tabernacle Baptist Church where he was trained in non-violent protest tactics 60 years earlier, he was brought to tears thinking about what the people of his city achieved.
    “When we started marching, we did not know the impact we would have in America. We knew after we got older and got grown that the impact it not only had in Selma, but the impact it had in the entire world,” Carrington said.
    Dr. Verdell Lett Dawson, who grew up in Selma, remembers a time when she was expected to lower her gaze if she passed a white person on the street to avoid making eye contact.
    Dawson and Mauldin said they are concerned about the potential dismantling of the Department of Education and other changes to federal agencies. Trump has pushed to end diversity, equity and inclusion programs within the federal government.
    Support from the federal government “is how Black Americans have been able to get justice, to get some semblance of equality, because left to states’ rights, it is going to be the white majority that’s going to rule,” Dawson said.“That that’s a tragedy of 60 years later: what we are looking at now is a return to the 1950s,” Dawson said.

  • Oldest living Foot Soldier, George Sallie, crosses bridge for last time

    Submitted By: Jasmyn Bowie

    Meteorologists reported that a storm was brewing for Saturday morning. Perhaps it was just the sound of a giant crossing over. George Sallie was just that — a gentle giant. The oldest living foot soldier crossed that bridge over troubled water for the final time on Saturday. Sallie, a 94-year-old walking, talking history book, was honored with horse and carriage over the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, flanked by the rails that bridged the way for children, foot soldiers and community, as they crossed over with him.
    The crowd gathered with umbrellas, ponchos and other weather gear. But the rain suddenly
    stopped. It was a beautiful day to acknowledge a beautiful spirit. The horse, carriage and his
    family crossed first, with young leaders directly behind them and with them. Freedom songs
    rang out. They reflected Sallie’s journey — the man who made it his business to journey to the
    bridge each day to greet Selma’s visitors with a smile, a very gentle handshake and valuable
    history lessons. It was also there that he prayed daily for the state trooper who beat him, leaving
    a scar where he would point to on his forehead.
    Selma’s Foot Soldier and founder of Foot Soldiers Park & Education Center, Joanne Bland, felt it her duty to be present. “I know the angels are singing right now,” she said with a smile. She continued to speak on her fellow foot soldier. “As a foot soldier, I felt it was mandatory that I walk across the bridge with Mr. Sallie for the last time. He was an amazing man, I loved him dearly. And just a walking history book. The world lost a library when he died, but he lived a wonderful life. He was the most giving and forgiving person I’ve ever known. God’s not through with me yet. I pray that I get what George Sallie got before he left.”
    Sallie impacted so many lives. He met no strangers. Patricia Taylor of St. Francis Episcopal
    Church in Greensboro, North Carolina, traveled in on a charter bus with her church. “It was an
    awesome experience to be able to help send this gentleman home,” she said.
    Family was everything to Sallie, so we spoke with four young family members who traveled from Montgomery: Cedric Wright, Trayvon Wright and Tyrone Johnson (great, great nephews) and Gavin Johnson (nephew).
    “Going across the bridge one last time with Uncle George was something, it was heartfelt,” said Cedric Wright.
    As Gavin smiled, Trayvon spoke of the mood the day put him in. “It was surreal going across the bridge one last time with him. It was something he and our family were always proud about—he was part of real history. He was part of the original group. It was just cool to be in his presence because he was like walking history.”


    Tyrone added, “It was a special moment [crossing over today] to cherish and see, and basically
    write about.


    Speaking of young people, Sallie thoroughly enjoyed it when they gathered at the bridge to
    listen as he shared history with them. And, appropriately so, the first walking group behind his
    carriage line was a group of young people that has marked social justice as part of their
    mission—the National Youth Advisory Board of Foot Soldiers Park. They studied other parts of
    Sallie’s journey before arriving on Saturday for his crossing. They saw his fine lines, his scar, his
    hands and his eyes. So, they came bearing the banner that had been around for a while —
    more worn and well-traveled, with many stories in its creases — instead of bringing their brand
    new banner that was smooth, had traveled only once and was only months old.

    They said they felt honored to make the crossing:


    “It was such an honor to walk across with the very man that helped start it all. It was such an
    amazing privilege and honor,” said Micah Thomas Jr., a senior at Southside High School.

    Twins Carmen and Camron Benjamin, sophomores at Selma High School, agreed. “It was a
    great feeling to honor such a legend,” said Carmen. Camron stated that “it was a great feeling to
    be a part of this history and pay my respects to a fallen foot soldier.”

    “It was just an honor to honor the person who fought for us and prayed for us,” said Deanisea
    Sullivan, a junior at Selma High School. “It was a very, very powerful experience,” she added.


    Taniya Dixon, 2023 Southside High graduate and University of Alabama freshman, said “it felt
    historical walking after someone who marched for my rights when they were younger. So, I paid
    my respects by doing it while I’m young.”


    The Sun spotted foot soldier Albert Southall, as he crossed the bridge back into Selma.

    “I’m an original foot soldier,” he said. “My feelings were bouncing between when we marched to
    Montgomery, and we had rainy, muddy weather—some really bad weather. They gave us
    orange vests, and I think Mr. Sallie was one of the few foot soldiers that kept his vest. I was
    thinking about the trip and also counting my blessings.”


    There were so many personal stories on the bridge Saturday morning. So many who had
    honorable stories about Sallie. So many remembered how he forgave and taught God and
    forgiveness.


    “The fact that he would come to the foot of the Edmund Pettus bridge each day and pray for the
    state trooper that beat him on Bloody Sunday is a true testament to his character. He will be
    missed,” Joanne Bland said.

    The remains of a true hero, George Sallie, were lowered on Jan. 27 at or about 11:30 in the
    morning-time.

     

  • President Biden renews commitment to passage of John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act at Selma Bridge Crossing Jubilee

    L To R: President Joe Biden, Cong. Terri Sewell, Rev. Al Sharpton, Rev. Jesse Jackson in wheelchair, rolled by son Cong. Jonathan Jackson, Krysten Clarke and Spiver W. Gordon
    Attorney Faya Rose Toure addresses gathering at Commemoration March.
    Rev. Jesse Jackson receives special tribute at Unity Breakfast.
    Senator Hank Sanders at Martin and Coretta Unity Breakfast Rev. Martin Luther King III sitting at right
    Freedom Singers bring inspiration throughout Jubilee.

    At Sunday’s rally at the foot of the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, President Biden renewed his commitment to passage of the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, even if it requires waiving the U. S. Senate’s filibuster rules.

    Biden accompanied by foot soldiers, current civil rights leaders and thousands of marchers crossed the bridge in the annual reenactment of the ‘Bloody Sunday’ march – March 7, 1965, when 600 marchers were met and beaten by hundreds of Alabama State Troopers and Sheriffs deputies. Later that month, Dr. Martin Luther King led marchers from Selma to Montgomery, completing the march and paving the way for passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

    In his statement, President Biden said: “The right to vote, to have your vote counted is the threshold of democracy and liberty,” 
 “This fundamental right remains under assault. Conservative Supreme Court has gutted the Voting Rights Act over the years. Since the 2020 election, a wave of states has passed dozens, dozens of anti-voting laws fueled by the big lie,” he insisted.
 The President continued. “We must redouble our efforts and renew our commitment to protecting the freedom to vote. “We know that we must get the votes in Congress to pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, and the Freedom to Vote Act. I’ve made it clear: I will not let a filibuster obstruct the sacred right to vote.”
    In his comments President Biden urged passage of the George Floyd Police Reform Act to implement changes in the criminal justice system across the nation. He also urged passage of a ban on assault weapons, like the AR-15, which have hurt people in recent multiple shootings at schools, theaters, and shopping centers.
    The President called for building the economy from “the bottom up and the middle out; and for the rich to pay their fair share of taxes.” He said that he was ready to stand by Selma and other places in the state ravaged by recent storms to rebuild better than in the past. He said over $8 million had already been distributed under the FEMA disaster declaration for the January 12th tornados.
    Biden was introduced by Charles Mauldin, a foot soldier, who was in the third row of marchers on Bloody Sunday. Mauldin explained that all Black public officials and others registered and voting under the 1965 Voting Rights Act owed a debt to the 600 ordinary people from Selma and surrounding areas who decided that they would take action to make a change.
    Mauldin initiated a “Foot Soldiers Breakfast” on Saturday morning of the Bridge Crossing Jubilee, ten years ago, to honor those who participated in Bloody Sunday and the Voting Rights Movement in Selma. At this year’s breakfast, the foot soldiers organization announced they had secured a property near the Carver Housing Project for a “Foot Soldiers Memorial Park” to recognize the contributions of the foot soldiers and to inspire the next generations to become active in positive social change for the Selma community.
    Faya Rose Toure, Selma attorney, civil rights activist, and co-founder, with her husband, Hank Sanders, of the Bridge Crossing Jubilee, which was celebrating its 30th anniversary, also spoke on the program at the foot of the bridge with President Biden.
    Toure said racism is still active and blatant in the Alabama Black Belt along with immense poverty and an abusive criminal justice system. She pointed out to the President, “Not a single white elected official is present on the stage or in the VIP seating for the event. Also, there are less that ten local white citizens involved in the Bridge Crossing Jubilee program. There is no school in the Alabama Black Belt, an area of majority Black population that teaches Black History!”
    Commenting on the recent tornados, Toure said, “Mr. President. Not only must we build back Selma better, but we must also build back Selma fairer, if we are interested in justice and progress for the people of Selma and surrounding communities.
    Toure also told the President, “I do not think you are too old to run again. My mother said the Blacker the berry; the older the berry, the sweeter the juice … “
    A number of the people on the stage and in the VIP seating for the President’s address, had participated earlier in the annual Martin and Coretta King Unity Breakfast. Among them, Rev. Jesse Jackson, who was in a wheelchair, Congresswoman Terri Sewell and other members of the Black Congressional Caucus, Rev. William Barber of the Poor Peoples Campaign, Dr. Joseph Mitchell, President of Wallace Community College, Barbara Arnwine of the Transformative Justice Coalition, Maya Wiley, CEO of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, Cliff Albright, Black Voters Matter, and many others.