Visit Al Jazeera English
Display mobile navigation Display mobile search bar
Al Jazeera America Al Jazeera America
Sections
U.S. International Economy Technology Science Environment Sports Culture Human Rights
Trending
Election 2016 Immigration Drugs Special Coverage
Search Form

Photos: Selma commemorates 50th anniversary of 'Bloody Sunday'

March 8, 2015 10:03AM ET

March to end voting discrimination was brutally attacked 50 years ago in event that would spur Voting Rights Act

Topics:
U.S.
Civil Rights
Voting
View comments
Selma
Original "foot soldiers" Dorothy Tillman Wright (C) who marched during Bloody Sunday shouts during a prayer at the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, on March 8, 2015. Tami Chappell / Reuters
Selma
President Barack Obama, right, and first lady Michelle Obama tour the National Voting Rights Museum in Selma, Alabama, on Saturday, March 7, 2015. The 1965 civil rights marches from Selma to Montgomery resulted in the signing of the Voting Rights Act to end racial discrimination at the voting booth. Jacquelyn Martin / AP
Selma
Children and others walk and sit on the Edmund Pettus Bridge on Saturday, March 7, 2015, in Selma, Alabama. On the same bridge on March 7, 1965, a march demanding an end to voting discrimination was brutally attacked by state troopers leaving peaceful protesters bloodied and some unconscious. Gerald Herbert / AP
Selma
U.S. President Barack Obama participates in a march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, on the 50th anniversary of "Bloody Sunday," a landmark event of the civil rights movement, on March 7, 2015. Jonathan Ernst / Reuters
Selma
Addie Crum crosses under the Edmund Pettus Bridge wearing her Sunday hat during the 50th anniversary of the Selma to Montgomery civil rights march in Selma, AL. March 8, 2015. Tami Chappell / Reuters
Selma
Erica Williams, left, of Washington, and Gwendolyn Richardson, of Beatrice, Alabama, center, wait for President Barack Obama to arrive and speak on Saturday, March 7, 2015. Jacquelyn Martin / AP
Selma
Former President George W. Bush and first lady Michelle Obama speak before President Barack Obama delivers a speech and takes a symbolic walk across the Edmund Pettus Bridge on Saturday, March 7, 2015, in Selma, Alabama. Bill Frakes / AP
Selma
Students from "Students Unite" and other people walk along the Edmund Pettus Bridge before the beginning of the 50th anniversary of the Selma to Montgomery civil rights march in Selma, Alabama March 8, 2015. Tami Chappell / Reuters
Selma
Malia Obama, left, and sister Sasha Obama laugh together as they leave a speech by their father President Barack Obama at the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, on March 7, 2015. Jacquelyn Martin / AP
Selma
Sylvia Sparks carries a voting sign as she marches over the Edmund Pettus Bridge during the 50th anniversary of the Selma to Montgomery civil rights march in Selma, Alabama March 8, 2015. Tami Chappell / Reuters
Selma
Lamar Dudley, of Selma, stands on the Edmund Pettus Bridge. The bridge, named after a Confederate general and Grand Dragon of the Ku Klux Klan, was built as a tribute to white supremacy but has been transformed into a symbol of the struggle for racial equality, on Saturday, March 7, 2015, in Selma, Alabama. Bill Frakes / AP

Thousands of people walked across a Selma, Alabama, bridge on Sunday in a re-enactment of the 1965 "Bloody Sunday" march — part of a weekend of events marking the 50th anniversary of a turning point in the U.S. civil rights movement.

Original protesters who had marched 50 years ago were among the crowd crossing the Edmund Pettus Bridge, where police and state troopers beat and fired tear gas at peaceful marchers who were advocating against racial discrimination at the voting booth.

The event became known as "Bloody Sunday" and prompted a follow-up march led by civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. that spurred the 1965 Voting Rights Act.

"Fifty years from Bloody Sunday, our march is not yet finished, but we're getting closer," President Barack said in a speech in Selma on Saturday.

Obama, the first black U.S. president, said discrimination by law enforcement officers in Ferguson, Missouri, showed that a lot of work needed to be done on race in America, but he warned it was wrong to suggest that progress had not been made.

"Fifty years ago if we were standing here we would be surprised if a police officer did not beat us," said Dick Gregory, 83, who was on the bridge 50 years before.

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder spoke at the Brown Chapel AME Church in Selma on Sunday, vowing to continue to fight recent efforts to gut the Voting Rights Act.

“The times change, the issues seem different, but the solutions are timeless and tested: Question authority and the old ways,” Holder said. “Work. Struggle. Challenge entrenched power. Persevere. Overcome.”

Al Jazeera and Reuters