This past weekend, I had the pleasure of watching and participating in the 60th anniversary of Bloody Sunday during the 33rd anniversary of the Selma Bridge Crossing Jubilee. 

I had no idea what to expect during the weekend. Normally, there is a big speaker or a group of speakers to anchor the rallies around the commemorative march.

Brent Maze is the publisher of The Selma Times-Journal and The Demopolis Times.

In years past, sitting Presidents and Vice Presidents have made the pilgrimage to the Black Belt to pay homage to what happened in one of the signature moments of the Voting Rights Movement, which included the Selma to Montgomery March. 

There was Bloody Sunday, Turnaround Tuesday and all of the other marches that occurred until they finally reached Montgomery. 

What sparked the movement was the murder of Jimmie Lee Jackson in Marion. There had been days of African Americans showing up to the Dallas County Courthouse to attempt to register to vote.

Ultimately, it caused Congress to pass the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which remained in tact until the Supreme Court struck down some parts of it including pre-clearance. Rep. Terri Sewell and others have introduced legislation to restore that and to build on the foundation of the Voting Rights Act.

A massive crowd
commemorates the 60th Anniversary of the March to Montgomery and “Bloody Sunday” as they cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma. | Photo by Brent Maze

However, Sunday’s commemoration of the march was very special to me. While a national audience watching speakers standing in front of a pulpit set up at the foot of the Edmund Pettus Bridge, what I saw was thousands of marchers coming over the Edmund Pettus Bridge and come to the spot where the marchers were attacked in 1965.

One of the best images in my mind was seeing State Troopers from the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency lining the sides of U.S. 80 to provide security for the marchers. Six decades ago, it was troopers who were standing the way of marchers and involved in the attack that saw two marchers killed and dozens other injured. Those two images are a sign that a lot has changed.

But other things have not changed. Speakers talked about how what work is left to do and things that are beginning to be undone. 

The Black Belt’s history is intertwined with the history of Civil Rights. While I love to see Selma get this attention during this weekend, I do believe there is much more to see across the region. There is so much that we have to offer, and so many lessons we still have to teach the world. 

I hope those marchers will come back and go beyond the bridge to see more of the region from Demopolis to Camden to Marion and all over. 

Brent Maze is the publisher of The Selma Times-Journal and Dempolis Times. He can be reached at brent.maze@dempolistimes.com.