CONGRESSMAN BISHOP STATEMENT ON ANNIVERSARY OF ‘BLOODY SUNDAY’
ALBANY, GA—Congressman Sanford D. Bishop, Jr. (GA-02) released the following statement regarding the 50th anniversary of ‘Bloody Sunday', March 7, 1965. On that day, up to 600 civil rights activists marched across the Edmund Pettus Bridge and out of Selma, Alabama on U.S. Highway 80. Led by John Lewis of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), the Reverend Hosea Williams of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), Bob Mants of SNCC, and Albert Turner of SCLC, the peaceful protest met violence from a waiting line of state troopers and deputized civilians. The resulting brutality and bloodshed, broadcast on national and international media, bolstered the campaign to pass the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
"The 1965 Selma to Montgomery Voting Rights March is one of the most seminal and pivotal events in America's civil rights movement," said Congressman Bishop. "The combined efforts of civil rights leaders, political leaders in the Johnson Administration, and our esteemed colleague, John Lewis, who put his life on the line when he crossed the Edmund Pettis Bridge in Selma, Alabama on March 7, 1965 -- made the Voting Rights Act a reality. Not only are the events of Bloody Sunday a vivid memory from the past, but also a stark reminder that it is up to all of us to protect our sacred right to vote for future generations."
To learn more about ‘Bloody Sunday', please click here.
###