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Sen.
Hank Sanders, D-Selma, said Friday he had hoped President Barack Obama
would move his planned visit to Selma from Friday, March 7 to Sunday,
March 8 to better accommodate local commemorations of the 50th
anniversary of “Bloody Sunday.” Sanders was joined by (left to right)
Rep. Alvin Holmes, D-Montgomery; Rep. John Knight, D-Montgomery; Rep.
Thad McClammy, D-Montgomery and Alabama Democratic Conference chairman
Joe Reed.(Photo: Brian Lyman/Advertiser)
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Hallelujah! Organizers of the annual Bridge Crossing Jubilee in #Selma, AL prevailed against an attempt by the largely White-run, Faith and Politics group, enabled by Rep. John Lewis (D. GA), to hijack Bloody Sunday for their own partisan political gain.
The annual march, usually held on a Sunday in the first week of March, has been planned by state Sen. Hank Sanders, D-Selma, and others annually since the 1970s. Sanders and other leaders said they were blindsided by Obama's announcement -- made in conjunction with U.S. Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga. -- that the president would march on the anniversary date: March 7.
Alabama's Black leaders and march organizers were right to be upset.
Sanders said there is a very specific reason for a Sunday march -- to commemorate "Bloody Sunday," that day on March 7, 1965, when state police beat marchers attempting to walk from Selma to Montgomery.Ya think? The end result, President Obama will speak in Selma on March 7, but there will be no march. The one and only march will take place on SUNDAY, March 8, 2015.
The marchers were stopped on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, and driven back. The incident was recently captured in the Paramount film, "Selma."
Sanders said it has always been especially poignant that the civil rights marchers were beaten on a Sunday.
The 1965 march, which was eventually successful later in March 1965, was seen as helping pass the U.S. Voting Rights Act, which invalidated state laws designed to keep blacks from voting.
Sanders said any attempt to hold two marches, one on March 7 and one on March 8, would be "divisive," and would send the wrong signals to the world.
“Senator Barack Obama came to Selma and marched on Bloody Sunday when he was seeking to be President. President Bill Clinton came to Selma and marched on Bloody Sunday on March 5, 2000, on the 35th Anniversary. Vice President Joe Biden came to Selma in 2013 and marched on Bloody Sunday. Attorney General Eric Holder came to Selma and marched on Bloody Sunday. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton came to Selma and marched on Bloody Sunday. They and so many others all recognized the sacredness of Bloody Sunday in their pilgrimages to Selma. Many leaders, civil rights and otherwise, have come to Bloody Sunday every single year for decades. Bloody Sunday is sacred. The Bloody Sunday March is sacred and cannot be aborted or redirected. It must be commemorated. It must be reenacted. It must be respected. It must be lifted. And it will on Sunday, March 8th,” said Sen. Sanders.The Bloody Sunday march is about something far greater than a presidential visit, rescheduling the observance to fit the schedule of a dignitary is unreasonable. State Sen. Hank Sanders, Tuskegee Mayor Johnny Ford and others who have stood firm on the scheduling should be commended.
Consider this your commendation.
One day when the Glory comes it will be ours....
The
end result is that President Obama will speak in Selma on March 7, the
actual anniversary of the Bloody Sunday, but there will be no march in
Selma that Saturday or in Montgomery on Sunday. - See more at:
http://www.afro.com/plans-for-two-separate-selma-marches-cancelled-as-groups-unify/#sthash.JamYsTEM.dpuf
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