The Marches from Selma, Alabama to Montgomery, Alabama

Selma is an old cotton mill town on the Alabama River. In 1964 more than half of Selma’s residents were black, and the city was a hotbed of racial unrest. (Hakim, p. 351.) On July 2, 1964, President Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 into law, prohibiting segregation of public facilities. This motivated members of SNCC and SCLC to engage in desegregation efforts in and around Selma.

Racial tensions grew and one marcher, Jimmie Lee Jackson, who tried to stop a state trooper from beating up his 82-year-old grandfather, was shot to death. (Denselow, pp. 42-43; Hakim, p. 352.) Jackson’s death prompted more marches by civil rights activists. They were met with police resistance. “Bull” Connor, police commissioner of Montgomery, and Jim Clark, Dallas County (Selma) sheriff, arrested more than 3,000 marchers between January 1 and February 7, 1965. (Id.) Civil rights leaders from SNCC and SCLS, including Martin Luther King, Jr. decided to hold a march from Selma to Montgomery, the state capital of Alabama, to protest the conditions and to present their grievances to governor George Wallace, who had said in his inauguration speech “…segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever.”

There actually were three Selma-to-Montgomery marches in 1965. Only the third attempt made it all 54 miles to Montgomery. The first march took place on March 7, 1965. The march became known as “Bloody Sunday” when the marchers were attacked by state troopers and county deputies, led by “Bull” Connor and Jim Clark, at the Edmund Pettus Bridge across the Alabama River. The bridge was named for Edmund Pettus, a Confederate general in the Civil War and a Grand Dragon of the Ku Klux Klan after the war. (USA Today, 3/8/15, p. 3B.) The day before the march, Clark had requested that all white males over the age of 21 come to the bridge and be deputized. (Anderson, pp.118-19; Jennings and Brewster, p. 402.) The troopers and deputies fired tear gas into the marchers, charged them, and beat them with billy clubs and whips.

The second march took place two days later and became known as “Turnaround Tuesday” when King and the other march leaders decided to honor a court order not to cross the bridge. That night, a group from the Ku Klux Klan beat and murdered civil rights activist James Reeb, a white Unitarian Universalist minister from Boston. The Klansmen also severely injured two other ministers in the same attack. And, Mrs. Viola Liuzzo, a 38- year-old white woman from Detroit, who had gone to Alabama to participate in the marches, was also killed. (Reader’s Digest, p.351.)

The third march took place on Sunday, March 21, after the local judge lifted the order preventing the march. Protected by 2,000 soldiers of the U.S. Army, 1,900 members of the Alabama National Guard under Federal command, and many FBI agents and Federal Marshals, the marchers covered the 54 miles in four days. (Hakim, p. 355)

Close to 8,000 people assembled at Brown Chapel in Selma to commence the trek to Montgomery. By the time they got to the capital on Thursday, March 25, there were close to 25,000 marchers. On March 24, the marchers stopped and camped on the outskirts of Montgomery. That night on a makeshift stage, a “Stars for Freedom” rally was held, with singers Harry Belafonte, Tony Bennett, Frankie Laine, Peter, Paul and Mary, Sammy Davis, Jr., Joan Baez and Nina Simone all performing. On March 25th, the 25,000 protesters marched to the steps of the Alabama capitol where Dr. King spoke (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Christian_Leadership_Conference#cite_note-20) on the voting rights struggle. Peter Yarrow of Peter Paul and Mary, and Harry Belafonte had to leave Montgomery after the march lying on the floor of a car so that they would not be seen by the Ku Klux Klan. (Denselow, p. 43.) Within five months, Congress and President Lyndon Johnson responded to the enormous public pressure generated by the Selma Voting Rights Movement by enacting into law the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

The “March on Freedom Highway” by The Staples Singers (http://youtu.be/f7_b_jyRVRc) is a type of song sung by the marchers on the road from Selma to Montgomery.

Marching on the freedom highway
Marching each and every day
Marching on the freedom highway
Marching each and every day

I made up my mind, and I won’t turn around
I made up my mind, and I won’t turn around

There is just one thing that I can’t understand about friends
Why some folks think freedom is not designed for all men
There are so many people living their lives perplexed
Wondering in their minds what’s gonna happen next

Marching on the freedom highway
Marching each and every day
Marching on the freedom highway
Marching each and every day

I made up my mind, and I won’t turn around
I made up my mind, and I won’t turn around

Found dead people in the forest
Tallahatchie river and lakes
The whole wide world is wonderin’ what’s wrong with the United States
Yes we want peace if it can be found
We’re gonna stay freedom highway, we’re not gonna turn around
And do you (do you) do you think I voted for the right man
Who said we will over come
I march the freedom highway until the day is done

Marching on the freedom highway
Marching each and every day
Marching on the freedom highway
Marching each and every day

I made up my mind, and I won’t turn around
I made up my mind, and I won’t turn around

I’m gonna keep on marching on the freedom highway
And I’m not gonna turn around