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Sen. Brown Will Make Pilgrimage to Selma to Commemorate 54th
Anniversary of Bridge Crossing
Brown Co- Led Congressional
Pilgrimage during the 50th Anniversary in 2015
This week, U.S. Senator
Sherrod Brown (D-OH) announced he will give remarks at
several events during this year's Selma Bridge Crossing
Jubilee on Sunday, March 3, 2019, in Selma, Alabama. The
Selma Bridge Crossing Jubilee is a commemoration of "Bloody
Sunday," which occurred March 7, 1965, when nearly 600 civil
rights activists were brutally attacked by law enforcement
while peacefully marching from Selma to Montgomery on the
Edmond Pettus Bridge. Brown has made multiple pilgrimages to
Selma to commemorate Bloody Sunday with his family and
congressional delegations.
"The brave women and men who
marched from Selma to Montgomery 54 years ago risked their
lives to demand full and equal participation in our
democracy," said Brown. "As we see the deliberate
dismantling of voting rights all across the country today,
it's more important than ever that we honor those foot
soldiers and continue to stand up for the rights they
sacrificed so much for."
Brown will give remarks
during the Martin Luther King & Coretta Scott King Unity
Breakfast. He will also deliver remarks at the historic
Brown Chapel A.M.E. Church, which served as the focal point
where Dr. King and other activists organized the
Selma-to-Montgomery marches and voter registrations.
Finally, Brown will speak at the foot of the Edmond Pettus
Bridge, where Congressman John Lewis (GA-05) and other
non-violent protestors were brutally attacked while fighting
for the right to vote.
Brown attended the first
year of the annual Congressional pilgrimage in 1998 and
keeps the photo of him marching through Selma in his office.
In 2015, the Faith and Politics Institute organized the
Congressional Civil Rights Pilgrimage to Selma during the
50th Anniversary Commemoration of Bloody Sunday. The events
were chaired by Congressman John Lewis, and Brown co-led the
pilgrimage with Senator Tim Scott (R-SC). The event had more
than 90 other lawmakers in attendance and included visits to
Birmingham, Montgomery, Selma, and Marion.
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