selma

selma

SELMA
 TO
 MONTGOMERY
 MARCH
 

 
In
  early
  1965,
  Martin
  Luther
  King
  Jr.’s
 
Southern
 
Christian
 
Leadership
 
Conference
  (SCLC)
  made
  Selma,
 
Alabama,
  the
  focus
  of
  its
  efforts
  to
 
register
  black
  voters
  in
  the
  South.
 
That
  March,
  protesters
  attempting
  to
 
march
 from
 Selma
 to
 the
 state
 capital
 
of
  Montgomery
  were
  met
  with
 
violent
  resistance
  by
  state
  and
  local
  authorities.
  As
  the
  world
  watched,
  the
 
protesters
  (under
  the
  protection
  of
  federalized
  National
  Guard
  troops)
  finally
 
achieved
 their
 goal,
 walking
 around
 the
 clock
 for
 three
 days
 to
 reach
 Montgomery.
 
The
 historic
 march,
 and
 King’s
 participation
 in
 it,
 greatly
 helped
 raise
 awareness
 of
 
the
  difficulty
  faced
  by
  black
  voters
  in
  the
  South,
  and
  the
  need
  for
  a
  Voting
  Rights
 
Act,
 passed
 later
 that
 year.
 
 

 
VOTER
 REGISTRATION
 EFFORTS
 IN
 SELMA
 
Even
 after
 the
 Civil
 Rights
 Act
 of
 1964
 forbade
 discrimination
 in
 voting
 on
 the
 basis
 
of
  race,
  efforts
  by
  civil
  rights
  organizations
  such
  as
  the
  Southern
  Christian
 
Leadership
  Council
  (SCLC)
  and
  the
  Student
  Nonviolent
  Coordinating
  Committee
 
(SNCC)
 to
 register
 black
 voters
 met
 with
 fierce
 resistance
 in
 southern
 states
 such
 as
 
Alabama.
  In
  early
  1965,
  Martin
  Luther...