Watch John Lewis' casket travel over famed Selma bridge
The multi-day memorial procession for the late Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) continued Sunday as the civil rights icon's body crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, for the final time.
Rep. John Lewis’ casket travels over the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, where he was beaten while marching for voting rights 55 years ago. pic.twitter.com/Gyk2lEN9dh
— NBC News (@NBCNews) July 26, 2020
In 1965, when Lewis was just 25, he helped lead a march across the bridge — which many people hope will be renamed in his honor — for Black voting rights. The protesters met resistance from Alabama state troopers, and Lewis was among those beaten on the bridge during an incident that came to be known as Bloody Sunday.
The march actually almost never happened since several leaders were concerned about the danger, but it was Lewis who insisted on going through with the demonstration.
One thing many people don't know is Bloody Sunday march in Selma almost didn't happen
SNCC voted against it & MLK sent Andrew Young to stop it
But John Lewis insisted on marching. "If the people want to march, I’m going to march with them” he said
[p 20 Give Us the Ballot] pic.twitter.com/iSpitTa5ZU
— Ari Berman (@AriBerman) July 26, 2020
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