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[h=4]Bloody Sunday commemoration 'assuages some of the hurt'[/h]SELMA, Ala.—They came from coast-to-coast to commemorate a solemn moment in civil rights history, but also to renew their commitment to a fight that many say isn't finished. Tens of thousands of Americans are
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"Bloody Sunday" was a catalyst for the passing of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, paving the way for black voters across the country to exercise their right. Find out what led up to the event and the impact it had on American history. VPC
School children cross over the historic Edmund Pettus Bridge commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Bloody Sunday crossing in Selma, Ala.(Photo: Dan Anderson, EPA)
SELMA, Ala. — Two presidents, dozens of lawmakers, and tens of thousands of ordinary citizens descended on this southern town Saturday to honor the past and brace for the future.
President Obama, accompanied by first lady Michelle Obama and their two children, prepared to address the crowd from the base of a bridge where an attack on civil rights marchers 50 years ago transformed the nation's voting laws, changed society, and helped pave the way for an African-American president.
Before his speech, Obama signed legislation awarding the Congressional Gold Medal to the "foot soldiers " of the Selma voting rights demonstrations, including the eventual march to Montgomery that took place March 21-25, 1965.
Many of the parents and grandparents of people who lined Water Street couldn't vote in some states because of restrictive racial policies; that started to change on March 7, when state troopers attacked marchers on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, sending more than 50 people to the hospital, but also galvanizing support for the federal Voting Rights Act later that year.
Ron Davis, only two years old during the Selma attack, lived to see millions of Americans join the voter rolls -- and he grew up to be the two-term mayor of Prichard, Ala.
"You think about what our ancestors did to fight for us," Davis said as he awaited Saturday's events.
Jan Meadows, 73, who traveled from Atlanta to Selma to hear Obama speak, said the Voting Rights Act of 1965 -- combined with the Civil Rights Act the year before -- "gave us the right to get political power."
That power enabled African-Americans to advance economically and socially, said Meadows, who became an architectural interior designer.
"We were able to vote, we were able to elect black officials -- we were able to go to school,' she said.
There are also vast economic problems in Selma and elsewhere. Many boarded-up businesses in Selma's small downtown were decorated for Saturday's ceremony. The area poverty and jobless rates remain high.
"I'm hoping this will bring on changes, not just in Selma, but in the South," said Annice Jordan, 72, a retiree from Seattle who was born in Selma. "When it comes to poor people, things are sad."
For Sidney Willis. 69, of Mobile, Ala., this is his ninth straight Bloody Sunday commemoration. All these years later, Willis said, the event remains as poignant as ever.
The commemoration helps assuage some of the hurt he felt as a black man coming of age in the South during a tumultuous moment for America, he said.
"I knew what it was to see segregation," Willis said. "When I was In the Coast Guard after high school, there were places the white guys could go that I wouldn't been allowed to frequent. We've made progress from those days, but we still have a long way to go."
Ben Obomanu, 31, a former NFL wide receiver, returned to his hometown of Selma for the commemoration.
When he was growing up, Obomanu's grandfather told him about the days before the 1965 Selma march, when it was difficult for a black man to enter city hall to pay a tax bill. Obomanu himself thought it was a major milestone after the city elected its first black mayor in 2000.
"Some things have changed so much from my grandfather to me," Obomanu said. "For my generation, it was a big deal to see Selma's first black mayor. "
Luci Baines Johnson, the younger daughter of President Lyndon Baines Johnson, recalled to USA TODAY being by her father's side the day he signed the voting act into law.
"This marks a sacred moment in our history," said Johnson, who traveled to Selma to join in the commemoration. "There were so many heroes that led to this day, the ones whose names we know but also those who were fighting in the shadows and whose names weren't recorded in the history books."
A large crowd forms near a stage where President Barack Obama will speak and then take a symbolic walk across the Edmund Pettus Bridge March 7, 2015, in Selma, Ala.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>(Photo: Gerald Herbert, AP)
Participants began arriving Thursday for a five-day commemoration that will reach its apex Saturday when President Obama speaks from the foot of the Edmund Pettus Bridge, where the marchers were bloodied by state troopers and a sheriff's posse armed with tear gas and clubs.
Obama previously took part in the annual commemoration in 2007, when he was serving in the Senate. The nation's first African-American president has tied his own rise in politics to those who marched in Selma 50 years ago. In addition to Obama, former president George W. Bush and dozens of federal lawmakers are in Selma to pay tribute to the foot soldiers of the voting rights movement.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., who was among the dozens of Washington lawmakers to travel to Selma this weekend, called out her fellow lawmakers for failing to taking action on the voting rights, nearly two years after the high court decision.
"We have not in the United States Congress reinvigorated the Voting Rights Act gotten it back to the president for his signature," Warren said. "That's what we should be talking about today."
Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio who also traveled to Selma for the commemoration, said the issue should be debated by Congress, but he resisted Democrats efforts to tie on Portman the Bloody Sunday anniversary.
"This about more than tweaks of the Voting Rights Act," he said. "This is about how do we secure that we have equal justice and that we learn from lessons of the past."
USA TODAY
Iconic Selma bridge has a racist back story
The commemoration comes at another difficult period in race relations in America, following the recent high-profile killings by police of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., Eric Garner in Staten Island, N.Y., and Tamir Rice in Cleveland, all black men.
This week, the Justice Department issued a scathing report detailing institutional racism in the Ferguson Police Department, while clearing former police officer Darren Wilson for the shooting last summer of the unarmed 18-year-old Brown, whose killing galvanized nationwide protests. Brown's family announced this week their intention to file a wrongful death lawsuit against Ferguson and Wilson.
"I feel a direct connection to what happened in Selma and wanted to be here," said Gwenn Carr, the mother of Garner, who is taking part in the commemoration. "What happened back then, what's happening today, it's déjà vu."
USA TODAY
50th anniversary of the Bloody Sunday in Selma, Ala.
Over the past two days, at forums and gatherings at some of the same Selma churches that served as the nerve centers of the 1965 movement, civil rights leaders have been calling on Americans to pressure Congress over the passage of stringent voter ID rules and other new voting rules that have been passed in several states after the Supreme Court struck down a key provision in the landmark legislation nearly two years ago.
In what is known as the Shelby ruling, the high court ruled that the Voting Rights Act formula used to determine which parts of the country would need federal approval — known as pre-clearance — to change their voting procedures was outdated. The court instructed Congress to write a formula that was reflective of current conditions, but Congress has yet to act.
"The voting rights act is being dismantled," said Kirsten Moller, who traveled to Selma from San Francisco to be part of the commemoration. "We need to protect it. It's not a given. We need to be vigilant."
Many participants came to Selma this weekend simply to be inspired.
"I felt I needed to come here to understand my history," said Joshua Shuck, 22, of Queens, N.Y. "It feels like I'm also getting a chance to be a part of history."
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