Rep. Stansbury Marks 60th Anniversary of Selma Civil Rights Marches with National and Local Leaders

SELMA, AL — Rep. Melanie Stansbury (NM-01) marked the 60th Anniversary of the 1965 Selma to Montgomery civil rights marches with national and local leaders, including the crossing of the Edmund Pettus Bridge in remembrance of “Bloody Sunday.” This anniversary commemorates a series of three civil rights marches led by Rep. John R. Lewis, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and other civil rights leaders, which ended with a violent clash on Sunday, March 7th, 1965, in which state troopers attacked nearly 600 unarmed protesters. Two weeks later, the march was completed as thousands gathered on the steps of the Alabama State Capitol demanding voting rights. The march and violence of Bloody Sunday galvanized national support for the passage of the Voting Rights Act months later in August of 1965.

Rep. Stansbury participated in the 60th Anniversary march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge and attended services and commemorations over several days in Selma, Montgomery, and Birmingham with civil rights leaders and nearly 40 members of Congress. 

“In a time when so much is on the line in protecting American democracy, freedoms, and voting rights, it is humbling to walk in the footsteps of the giants who marched for voting rights here in Selma a generation ago,” said Rep. Melanie Stansbury (NM-01). “This 60th Anniversary is a solemn reminder of the generations who fought to bend the arc of history towards justice. I am grateful to be in the fight alongside so many extraordinary leaders who carry that spirit forward into the work ahead.” 

More about the history of the events on Bloody Sunday: 

On March 7th, 1965 civil rights leaders and protesters began the 54-mile walk from Selma to the Alabama State Capitol in Montgomery to demand voting rights protections, only to make it 6 blocks down Broad Street and across the Edmund Pettus Bridge, where they were met by more than 50 state troopers and a several dozen possemen on horseback. When the demonstrators refused to turn back, they were brutally beaten. 

At least 17 were hospitalized and 40 others received treatment for injuries and the effects of tear gas. The attack, which was broadcast on national television, caught the attention of millions of Americans and became a symbol of the brutal oppression and racism of Jim Crow in the South. 

Two weeks later, the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. and 3,200 civil rights protesters marched the 54 miles from Selma to the state capital in Montgomery — an event that prompted Congress to pass the Voting Rights Act. 

Every year on the first weekend in March, the Bridge Crossing Jubilee commemorates both the bloody confrontation at the Edmund Pettus Bridge and the march from Selma to Montgomery that followed.

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