Hundreds March Across Edmund Pettus Bridge to Mark 60th Anniversary of Bloody Sunday

It is heartening to witness this great gathering in the name of remembering, honoring, and illuminating the deep struggle for racial justice and equality that very much continues to this day. It is also profoundly sad on this 60th anniversary to be witness to yet again the most current and fierce uprising of racism, bigotry, dehumanization, and injustice in America. This is the shadow side of our nation that has never been truly acknowledged, embraced, healed, and transformed. May an awakening within ourselves, our nation, and the planet grow and deepen and evolve. Now, here, today and in all the days to come. We are all related, all connected, all family. — Molly

On Sunday, hundreds of people gathered in Selma, Alabama, to commemorate the 60th Anniversary of "Bloody Sunday," when civil rights activists were violently beaten while marching for voting rights in 1965. The marchers retraced their steps across the Edmund Pettus Bridge, where, on March 7, 1965, they were confronted by armed Alabama State Troopers. The brutal suppression of their peaceful protest helped spur the passage of the Voting Rights Act later that year. The 2025 commemoration was marked by the presence of activists from 1965 and featured speeches by civil rights leaders and lawmakers. Spiver Gordon, an 85-year-old participant in the original march, reflected on the violence of the day and the ongoing struggle for justice, expressing concern over current political developments. “We got Donald Trump now. And of course, he's trying to turn back the clock. And trying to stop us from moving forward. But of course, those of us who are of the movement know that we have to continue,” Gordon said. Activists like LaTosha Brown and political figures such as Governor Andy Beshear and Derrick Johnson, president of the NAACP, also spoke about the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion in today's political climate. "We have to be ungovernable. We have to get to the point. You are not a legitimate government if you are not in service of the people," Brown said. (Production: Jayla Whitfield-Anderson)