Selma's 50 Year Anniversary Aftermath

March 7th, 1965 also known as Bloody Sunday happened on Edmund Pettus Bridge. 600 people marched peacefully across for the sake of voting rights. They were greeted by cops, bearing clubs and tear gas (sound familiar?). 17 people were hospitalized and hundreds were brutalized. In that dangerous yet inspiring movement, tides started turning.

MLK spoke with President Johnson, who was led to speak on voting rights being needed for everyone. Blacks were then allowed to vote in Montgomery, Alabama. Those marchers persevered through the  dog bites, blood and hate. They were looking into the future. However, 50 years later we must reevaluate how present day blacks perceive their right to vote.

 

Apologies for the blurry map, but you can still see the point I'm trying to get at. Since the movement voting has decreased for African Americans. So the question I propose is why? Why after all our forebrothers and foresisters went through to gain the right to vote do we as a community not? When President Obama ran during his first presidency term, the voting stats for black people were the highest they've ever been. So is this an inclusion issue? Do we feel we don't relate to our politics? Or perhaps the access to voting is our hindrance. With the revoking of rights and the inaccessibility to the polls we are definitely being strategically halted from voting. Mass incarceration and the working class literally can't make it to the polls.

 

Working a campaign in my county, I've learned dependent of where you live, the polls will be open longer and for more days. Guess which areas  had restricted hours and days? Yup the poorer communities. There's also a happening of redistricting/remapping which curves the vote a certain way. Of course media America does not put this information out there. They won't say why black people aren't voting, they'll just say they don't and paint us for apathetic. We then believe this instead of looking at the real issue behind our lack of presence in politics.

 

Now while canvassing I've come across the black person (or community person) who says the clichés of why they don't vote. I've heard "Politicians lie" "the votes don't make a difference in who wins" "I'm not into politics" and etc.

 

While there is truth to what they're saying, we must look at Selma for an example. When things are not going our way, we must make the government look our way. We must remember we are the ones who provide them with their job and their pretty salaries. So without us they cannot prosper. People continue to feel powerless and they are not. It is all about engagement. Those brave souls in Selma engage in a movement that has paved the way for black voters. We must rebel against the obstruction to our voting rights. Anything we want we must fight for it, an unfortunate truth. But with that truth, empower your community to get involved in voting. 

 

Obama and Lewis said beautiful things in reflection of Selma. Many people went back to that very bridge on remembrance of today. Many black leaders say we are getting closer each day to that America we all dream of, however sometimes it feels like that is a cover up. When we look at what happened in Ferguson just last year, we still see the brutalization police bring upon black people. They've even militarized themselves against us. Why are we at war in our own "free" backyard?

 

I guess my point is we continue to remember these amazing moments during the Civil Rights Movement while we are presently losing our human rights. We as the people need to strategically abolish any systematic voting oppression. The power is right in our hands and we don't even know it. To get real change takes a sacrifice; are we willing to go through more Selmas and Fergusons to get there?