Bloody Sunday, One of the Most Significant Events in US History is Sacred.

By: Dr. Charles Steele Jr., SCLC National President & CEO

The Leader of the SCLC, one of the organizers, says Bloody Sunday is Sacred and Must Remain on Sunday and in Selma.

The 1965 Selma to Montgomery march known as “Bloody Sunday” reminds us of our responsibility to ensure the sacrifices of people like Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Jimmie Lee Jackson, Amelia Boynton, James Bevel, Hosea Williams, James Orange and many others are not in vain. One thing that I hope that we as African-Americans as well as all Americans have learned is that we cannot depend on state governments nor the federal government to do the right thing in terms of our basic rights. No matter whether the President is Black, White, Asian, Hispanic or any other nationality, we must hold whoever the President of the United States is accountable for the American people and especially the poor Americans who are suffering every day from insufficiency.

As Americans, human beings and Christians we cannot afford to sit back while our brothers and sisters suffer in this country and around the world. Yes, we have come a long way, but we still have a very long way to go. Although times change and we do need to change with the times, however, we must not loose our integrity. We cannot let go of the very accomplishments and historical moments that was paid for the freedoms we have today. Selma is a prime example of standing firm and holding on to the important details and historic pieces and elements of our past. We cannot risk our history becoming unclear and the importance lost in the confusion.

Every year iconic civil rights leaders from around the globe gather in Selma, Alabama for The Bridge Crossing Jubilee, the largest annual gathering of civil, human and voting rights activists. Dr. Charles Steele, Jr., president and CEO of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), said one line of business addressed by organizers was protecting the integrity of the event.

“Bloody Sunday occurred on Sunday,” said Dr. Steele, who heads the civil rights organization co-founded and first led by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., which is one of the original organizers of the historic March 7, 1965 event. “Bloody Sunday is sacred, because it educates the world about the racist system in America that treated Blacks less than human and prevented Black Americans from voting. The spotlight was on the Alabama state troopers who brutally attacked marchers as they proceeded to cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge for a 54-mile march to the state capitol in Montgomery. It was an ugly scene, and it occurred in Selma on that Sunday. We embrace the growth and the enthusiasm that comes with growth, but the integrity of the event cannot be altered.”

This year leaders such as Dr. King’s eldest son, Martin King III, Civil Rights Icon Rev Jesse Jackson; U.S. Senator Raphael Warnock; Congresswomen Maxine Waters, Nikema Williams, and Terri Sewell; U.S. Assistant Attorney for Civil Rights Kristen Clarke, and NAACP President Derrick Johnson participated in festivities. President Joe Biden also attended and this made President Biden the fourth sitting president to attend the bridge crossing event.

The Jubilee began on Thursday, March 2, 2023, and it concluded on Mons, March 6, 2023, but the highlight of the festivities was the reenactment across the bridge that Sunday.

“Some people of influence wanted to alter the event and commemorate the bridge crossing on Saturday and in another location, but we do not support any changes,” Dr. Steele said. “Bloody Sunday occurred on Sunday and in Selma. Bloody Sunday is sacred and there will be no changes.”

Attempts to alter the Bloody Sunday event comes at a time when the civil rights movement is at a crossroads. While civil rights leaders see some victories, Kamala Harris, becoming the first Black/Indian American vice president, Ketanji Brown Jackson, becoming the first Black woman U.S. Supreme Court Justice, Raphael Warnock, the first Black U.S. Senator from Georgia and a record number of Black Americans being elected to Congress, they face some legal actions that threaten to derail voting rights, affirmative action and other civil rights gains.

They also recognize that many of the original leaders, who participated in Bloody Sunday are now deceased or they have reached an age where their ability to participate in the event is limited. Meanwhile, the significance and growth of the event has led to new allies and leaders from a modern and more diverse civil rights movement who seek to weld their influence. Dr. Steele said the biracial, multi religious movement embraces all, but the integrity of the event must stand into perpetuity.

“We cannot change what we started 58 years ago, because we see daily that the struggle for voting rights, human rights and racial equality continues in 2023,” Dr. Steele said. “We must protect the integrity of this moment, just like we protect the sacredness of all atrocities around the world. Bloody Sunday should always be a vivid reminder of America’s dark past but inspire people of all backgrounds and religions to march in harmony striving for a brighter future where all of us will be judged by the content of our character and not the color of our skin.”