Rep. Terri Sewell To Lead Voting Rights Protests Tomorrow
Wakening the echos of the 1960s voting rights movement and the "Bloody Sunday" confrontation between marchers and Alabama State Troopers, events protesting redistricting in Alabama will take place in Selma and Montgomery tomorrow.
Voting and civil rights organizations and activists from across the country will begin the day in the very place the pivotal events that led to the passage of the landmark Voting Rights Act took place - Selma.
Organizers are calling the event “All Roads Lead to the South,” framing the march as unfinished business from the civil rights movement. They claim the state is attempting to take away the hard earned voting rights of blacks and other minorities.
The day of protest begins at 9 a.m. with a prayer gathering at the foot of the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, the same ground where John Lewis and other marchers were beaten. They then move to Montgomery at 1:00pm for an assembly at the state capital on the spot where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. addressed marchers after they finally completed the 50 miles trek from Selma to Montgomery in August 1965.
Busses have been chartered from cities across Alabama and the south to bring actisits to Montgomery in an effort to tell leaders in Alabama, Tennessee, Florida, Texas and other states that redistricting is an attempt to disenfranchise blacks. "And we will not go back," is the motto being used by West Alabama Democrat Congresswoman Terri Sewell, who is one of the leaders of the protest and will headline tomorrow's rally.
Organizers are urging persons who are concerned about recent court rulings and th rapid rwaction to redistrict by Republican legislators to make their voice heard. They are asking persons who want to participate to sign up and be heard.
Organizers believe thousands will attend the events they are calling a "national day of action" and they vow this is just the beginning of organized efforts.
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