"The Selma to Montgomery march was part of a series of civil rights protests that occurred in 1965 in Alabama, a Southern state with deeply entrenched racist policies. In March of that year, in an effort to register Black voters in the South, protesters marching the 54-mile route from Selma to the state capital of Montgomery were confronted with deadly violence from local authorities and white vigilante groups. As the world watched, the protesters—under the protection of federalized National Guard troops—finally achieved their goal, walking around the clock for three days to reach Montgomery, Alabama. The historic march, and Martin Luther King Jr.’s participation in it, raised awareness of the difficulties faced by Black voters, and the need for a national Voting Right"
Quote from : https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/selma-montgomery-march
As someone who was born and raised in the motherland (Africa), there is such a huge disconnect about what our public education curriculum teach us on the black experience in captivity in the Americas and beyond. We are taught World History, European History, African History and the history of our country/Tribes of origin. However , the history of what the slaves endured in the Americas was not presented in depth.
So, imagine my shock, after my immigration, to learn about black history in the US and it's impact on black americans.
The Civil Rights Race series commemorates some of the significant milestones of the civil rights movement. I participated in the Selma-Montgomery race series, which serves to educate and bring economic development to under served communities that had a significant role in the marches that led to the voting rights act of 1965.
I have tried multiple times to blog and express the range of emotions I felt during this experience, from rage to anger, hope and despair but words fail me.
Words are not enough to convey the depth of emotions I felt standing on that Edmund Pettus Bridge. Especially given that, after all this time, sometimes, it feels like America has taken 1000 steps back in time through modern systems of oppression such as institutional racism and technocracy, to unravel all the work that was done by the freedom fighters over 60 years ago.
Words are not enough to convey the experience of running on route 80 and other routes as we journeyed as a group from Selma to the state capitol in Montgomery, with the understanding that over 60 years ago, Amelia Boynton Robinson was beaten to unconsciousness on these same roads for peacefully protesting.
Words are not enough to express the feeling of witnessing the first person accounts of enslaved people, seeing the breath of research work that has been done including the current day prison pipeline systematic oppression of black americans. Or even seeing the posters for wanted runaway slaves, even after slavery was abolished.
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I will forever hold on to the pictures and the videos from this experience because even as we move forward as a country, we should never forget the past, so we don't repeat it.
It's intriguing to note that, looking back at the history of slavery and the civil rights movement, they were willing to die for justice because either way, premature death was inevitable and it's better to die for something than nothing.
Today, I think because we have been misled to perceive we have certain freedoms, that are not guaranteed, and we find ourselves in "golden handcuffs", we have become passive and come to agreement with our modern day systematic oppressors. Not recognizing that we are participants in a modern day slavery economic model.
Protesting feels like an "inconvenience". As an act that requires you to calculate the "cost" , as if there is anything more costly that your freedom, civil rights and human rights.
As Bob Marley famously said, we all need to "Emancipate ourselves from mental slavery. None but ourselves can free our minds"