The annual pilgrimage across the Edmund Pettus Bridge commemorates Bloody Sunday, where civil rights activists, led by John Lewis, were violently attacked by Alabama state troopers in 1965. This brutal event was sparked by the killing of Jimmie Lee Jackson and was broadcasted globally, exposing the extremities of Jim Crow law enforcement. President Johnson labeled this event a crucial turning point in U.S. history, emphasizing the need to confront bigotry and injustice. Reflecting on this historic march reveals its ongoing significance in the struggle for racial equality.
"We got to the highest point on this bridge," Lewis said in an interview with NPR, standing on the bridge ten years ago. "Down below we saw a sea of blue Alabama state troopers."
President Lyndon Johnson gave a pivotal speech to Congress a week later, calling Selma a turning point in American history, likening it to the famous American battles at Lexington and Concord, and Appomattox.
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