Bloody Sunday: President Biden Travels to Selma for 58th Anniversary

by Nehemiah Frank, The Black Wall Street Times

On this day 58 years ago, a powerful movement was sparked by those who stood together in Selma.

Today, President Joe Biden embarks on a historic journey to Selma, Alabama, in honor of the 58th Anniversary of Bloody Sunday. In 1965, this event shocked the Nation when civil rights pioneers like John Lewis were met with merciless force by state troopers as they peacefully marched for voting equality across Edmund Pettus Bridge.

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Although heinous acts of legalized white supremacy took place that day, upon witnessing unnecessary violence against Black Americans who simply wanted equal access to the ballot box, many Americans rose up from coast-to-coast pushing Congress to sign off on landmark legislation providing necessary protection against racial discrimination at polls nationwide in The Voting Rights Act 1965. 

Today, despite every American’s right to vote being constitutionally protected, many states have developed regressive voting laws that stifle the voices of their Black constituents. 

Discover how voting equality has been challenged–and supported–recently.

Reconstruction was a time where Black men’s rights increased.

Learn more about Black history in our breaking news section.