Selma anniversary an opportunity for protesters, too
SELMA, Ala. — As political dignitaries and the public gathered here Saturday to honor those who participated in the Selma-to-Montgomery march, a dissenting voice was also heard.
"You need to tear down that bridge and rebuild Selma," an unidentified woman yelled from the crowd.
The cry was one of several demonstrations that took place Saturday. Although the anniversary celebration was peaceful, there were several people who took the opportunity to protest in front of an audience that numbered in the thousands.
Some of the protests concerned the ongoing question on whether to change the name of the Edmund Pettus Bridge, which was built in 1940 and named after a general in the Confederate Army and an alleged member of the Alabama Ku Klux Klan.
"We're all here because of that bridge," the woman said.
In addition, an activist group from, Ferguson, Mo., called Lost Voices traveled to Selma to bring attention to racism in the United States. The group was formed following the death of an unarmed African-American teenager, Michael Brown, who was shot and killed by a white Ferguson police officer on Aug. 9.
This week, a federal investigation into the city revealed a police department that was "systematically biased against African Americans in that city."
"We're trying to make a change and show people how to get along," said Queen Dougherty, a member of the group.
During President Obama's speech, the group began chanting "We Want Change" and held up pictures of Brown while playing drums.
Tuskegee Mayor Johnny Ford also took opportunity to tell people about getting behind an amendment to strengthen the Voting Rights Act. The Supreme Court recently struck down part of the law.
"What we fought and died and bled for is dead, so we are celebrating a dead Voting Rights Bill and I am hoping these people will get fired up so we can do the same thing that they did 50 years ago," Ford said. "We must do it again."
Ford said he would be visiting Washington in the upcoming weeks to encourage legislators to uphold the act and to make sure voting rights are protected for all Americans.
"We don't have time to celebrate," Ford said. "We celebrate today and tomorrow, but we must continue to fight."
