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...