ROANOKE, Va – It has been 60 years since the historic voting rights march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama.
Members of the Roanoke chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference gathered at the MLK Jr. memorial this afternoon to commemorate the anniversary of Bloody Sunday and reflect on where we are today.
“We don’t want to forget what it took for us to get here. It took suffering, it took beatings and all those things for us to get here,” said Bishop Edward Mitchell, a member of Roanoke SCLC. “And whether anybody like it or not, we’re here to stay.”
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Dozens of community leaders, including members of Roanoke city council, came out to remember the march.
On March 7th, 1965, 600 civil rights protesters marched for voter’s rights. They were swiftly met with intense violence from the police.
Hundreds were severely injured, and the aftermath of the attack influenced President Lyndon B. Johnson to introduce the Voting Rights Act of 1965 later that year.
