Subscribe
HipHopWired Featured Video
CLOSE

Ava DuVernay‘s Selma film is enjoying critical success along with the approach of the Selma-To-Montgomery Marches’ 50th anniversary and the historic Civil Rights Movement moment will be commemorated by President Barack Obama. On March 7, the President will travel to Selma, Ala. to attend a celebration of the marches and also highlight the signing of the landmark Voting Rights Act of 1965 law.

News of the President’s visit came by way of tweet from his top senior advisor, Valerie Jarret. Ms. Jarret tweeted, “POTUS will travel to Selma, AL on the 50th anniv of Bloody Sunday to commemorate the sacrifices of the marchers on whose shoulders he stands.”

The “Bloody Sunday” event took place on March 7, 1965, and was the first of many marches organized by the Souther Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) Director of Direct Action Rev. James Bevel, Amelia Boynton Robinson, and others. Rev. Bevel’s character in Selma was played by Chicago rapper, Common.

A group of around 600 nonviolent protestors protesting for the rights to voter registration were attacked by state troopers and police while attempting to cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge en route from Selma to the town of Montgomery.

Some of the most stirring images of the time emerged from this violent display by the police against the protesters. The organizers and demonstrators continued to attempt the march despite resistance from the Alabama National Guard and strict orders from then Gov. George Wallace to use deadly force to contain the marchers.

The news of the violence made its way to the desk of President Lyndon B. Johnson, which led to an expedited introduction of the Voting Rights Act on March 15. The bill was not signed into law until August of that year.

The bill was not signed into law until August of that year.

Photo: Adriana M. Barraza/WENN.com