#FeelSelmaHistory

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John Lewis: From the Pettus Bridge to the Halls of Congress

John Lewis was born the son of sharecroppers, outside of Troy, Alabama on February 21, 1940.  As a young man, he was inspired by the events of the Montgomery Bus Boycott and the speeches of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  At a young age he made the decision to become involved in the Civil Rights Movement.

In 1961, he volunteered to participate in the Freedom Rides, which challenged segregation at interstate bus terminals across the South. Lewis risked his life on those Rides many times by simply sitting in seats reserved for white patrons.  He was also beaten severely by angry mobs and arrested by police for challenging the injustice of Jim Crow segregation in the South.

During the height of the Movement, from 1963 to 1966, Lewis was named Chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), which he helped form. SNCC was largely responsible for organizing grassroots student activism in the Movement, including sit-ins and other activities.

In 1964, a 24-year-old John Lewis coordinated SNCC efforts to organize voter registration drives and community action programs during the Freedom Summer. Lewis came to Selma, Alabama to help train local residents and particularly the youth in nonviolent protest strategies and techniques.

On the cold and rainy morning of March 7, 1965 Hosea Williams and John Lewis led over 600 peaceful, orderly protestors across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama in a march that drew inspiration from the killing of Jimmie Lee Jackson.  They intended to march from Selma to Montgomery to demonstrate the need for unrestricted access to the vote in the state. This group of marchers were attacked by Alabama state troopers, sheriff’s deputies and local thugs in a brutal confrontation that became known as "Bloody Sunday." Lewis was knocked unconscious and had a concussion at the result of being struck repeatedly in the head.

Images of the attacked on peaceful demonstrators and the subsequent marches helped dramatize the struggle of poor African-Americans in the south. News broadcasts and photographs of the brutality and cruelty of the segregated South pushed the nation to pass the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Despite more than 40 arrests, physical attacks and serious injuries, John Lewis remained a devoted advocate of the philosophy of nonviolence. After leaving SNCC in 1966, he continued his commitment to the Civil Rights Movement as Associate Director of the Field Foundation and his participation in the Southern Regional Council's voter registration programs. In 1986 John Lewis became the Congressman from the Georgia 5th District where he continues to serve today.

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Jimmie Lee Jackson: Soldier for His Country and His People

Jimmie Lee Jackson was the son of Viola Jackson and grandson of Cager Lee. He was born in Marion, Alabama a few miles from Selma. Mr. Jackson served in the U.S. Army and at 26 was the youngest deacon of St. James Baptist Church.

Throughout the early 1960s activists in Selma and nearby counties campaigned for the rights of African-Americans to unrestricted access to the ballot box. Jimmie Lee Jackson had attempted to register to vote numerous times and despite all his efforts he was rejected. Mr. Jackson and his grandfather often marched and joined numerous protests in an effort to bring attention to the plight of African-Americans in Alabama.

On the night of February 18, 1965 C. T. Vivian had just spoken to a gathering at Zion United Methodist Church. Jimmie Lee Jackson, his mother and grandfather were in attendance and joined those assembled in a nighttime march to the city jail. When they left the church they were met by a blockade of local police, sheriff’s deputies and Alabama state troopers. The streetlights suddenly went out and the marchers were attacked with clubs, whips and cattle prods.

Mr. Jackson, his mother and 82-year-old grandfather fled into Mack's Café and were pursued by Alabama State Troopers. Police knocked out the lights in the café and started clubbing Jimmie Lee’s grandfather, Cager Lee, to the floor. Mr. Lee’s daughter attempted to pull the officers off her father and she was then clubbed. When Jackson tried to protect his mother, one trooper threw him against a wall and a second trooper, James Bonard Fowler, shot Jackson twice in the abdomen. The two troopers then fled the café. Jackson stumbled from the café, bleeding from the bullet wounds, and was beaten repeatedly until he collapsed in front of the bus station.

 Jimmie Lee Jackson was taken to Good Samaritan Hospital in Selma where he died on February 26. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. visited Jackson at the hospital four days after he was shot. Jackson was conscious, and Dr. King recalled his words during the eulogy he delivered at Zion Church: “I never will forget as I stood by his bedside a few days ago… how radiantly he still responded, how he mentioned the freedom movement and how he talked about the faith that he still had in his God. Like every self-respecting Negro, Jimmie Jackson wanted to be free...We must be concerned not merely about who murdered him but about the system, the way of life, the philosophy which produced the murderer.”

 An outraged James Bevel, advocated carrying Jackson’s body to Montgomery and putting his casket on the steps of the Alabama Capitol, forcing then Governor George Wallace to address the discrimination, assaults and terrorism of African-Americans in Alabama. The killing of Jimmie Lee Jackson was the catalyst that pushed the Selma Voting Rights Movement into marching from Selma Montgomery. On March 7, 1965 a group of 600 people marched out of Brown Chapel in Selma and onto the Edmund Pettus Bridge. These marchers were brutally attacked on national television and under the coverage of national media. The result was “Bloody Sunday.”

 The events captured national attention, shocked the conscious of many, and raised global support for the voting rights campaign. On March 21, protesters once again traveled over the Edmund Pettus Bridge and the entire way from Selma to Montgomery, protected by federal troops and Alabama National Guard under federal command.

In March 1965, President Johnson announced his federal bill to address voter discrimination and a few months later Congress passed the Voting Rights Act of 1965. After the Act was passed, Jimmie Lee Jackson's grandfather Cager Lee, who had marched with him that February night in Marion, voted for the first time at the age of 84.

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Martyr to Redeem the Soul of our Nation.

Reverend James Reeb was a white Unitarian Universalist minister who worked for the poor and indigent in Boston. When Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. made the call for people to come to Selma, Alabama following the attack of Bloody Sunday Reverend Reeb answered. The next day he made his way to Selma to join the Voting Rights Movement.

On Tuesday March 9, 1965 Reverend Reeb and two other Unitarian Universalist ministers, Reverend Clark Olsen and Reverend Orloff Miller, were walking back to Browns Chapel after having dinner in a Selma diner. There were attacked by a group of white men outside the Blue Moon Café. Reverend Reeb was struck in the head with a club and died three days later.

Dr. King delivered the eulogy at his funeral saying “…we thank God for the life of James Reeb. We thank God for his goodness. We thank God that we was willing to lay down his life in order to redeem the soul of our nation.”

Unlike the minimal media attention given to the killing of Jimmie Lee Jackson, Reverend Reeb’s death was a national news story. The murder of this white minister was front-page news and focused intense scrutiny on the events in Alabama.  

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Cager Lee : The Ultimate Loss that Sparked a Movement

No person’s life speaks to the Voting Rights Movement in Alabama more than Cager Lee. Most people have never hear of Mr. Cager Lee, fewer still know the roll he played in the spark that catapulted the Voting Rights Movement onto the national stage.

Cager Lee was born in 1883 – 18 years after the end of the Civil War. He grew up with people who knew first hand what it was to be shackled, beaten and sold as property. Cager Lee saw the struggle of the transition from slave to free person in the South. He was part of the first generation to have a concept of self-determination, limited as it was.

Cager Lee had a daughter and two grandchildren. He made sure that his family knew where they came from as a people. Mr. Lee was not afraid to stand up for dignity and his rights as a free man. In the 1960’s he participated in protests, marches and civil disobedience despite threats and intimidation. He passed his resilience and belief in a better world to his grandson - Jimmie Lee Jackson.

It was on a crisp Thursday night on February 18, 1965 when 82-year-old Cager Lee was attending a meeting at Zion United Methodist Church in Marion, Alabama. He was there with his daughter Viola Jackson and his 26-year-old grandson Jimmie Lee. That evening the three of them joined several hundred others in a nighttime march from the church to the jailhouse.

As the marchers filed out of the church that evening, they encountered the commander of the Alabama State Troopers and 50 troopers in riot gear. They were ordered to disperse by Sheriff T.O. Harris. A few seconds after the order all of the streetlights went out. Within seconds troopers and local thugs were attacking the marchers with clubs. The sounds of wood cracking against bone and flesh could be heard over the screams of “Have Mercy!”

The elderly Cager Lee was clubbed to the ground while trying to flee the melee. Jimmie Lee picked him up and carried him into Mack’s Café with his mother following close behind. State troopers charged into the café knocking out lights and swinging at those that had taken refuge inside. One trooper knocked Viola Jackson to the floor. Jimmie Lee jumped to shield his mother from further blows and was pushed away. Without warning one of the troopers drew his gun and shot Jimmie Lee Jackson two times at close range. The troopers then fled the café leaving Jackson bleeding on the floor. He died eight days later at Good Samaritan Hospital in Selma, Alabama.

Cager Lee stayed by his grandson’s bedside until he succumbed to his injuries. The killing of Jimmie Lee was the catalyst for the march from Selma to Montgomery. Minister James Bevel advocated carrying the casket to the state capitol and placing it on the steps to protest his killing and the plight of African-Americans in Alabama.

Cager Lee buried his grandson on March 3 and four days later he was on the Edmund Pettus Bridge when peaceful demonstrators were attached by Alabama state troopers. This time the world witnessed the attack and the nation was forced to confront the race-based oppression in the south.

Two weeks later Mr. Lee was part of the thousands that marched from Selma to Montgomery under the protection of federalized Alabama National Guardsmen. The following year, 83-year-old Cager Lee was able to register to vote for the first time in his life.

Jimmie Lee Jackson became a martyr of the Civil Rights Movement. Cager Lee lived long enough to see African-Americans rise from slaves to securing the right to vote.

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Bernard Lafayette, Jr. : Grass Roots Organizer

Bernard Lafayette, Jr. was born in Tampa, Florida and is a civil rights activist and organizer. He attended American Baptist Theological Seminary in Nashville, Tennessee. During his freshman year he became interested in the philosophy of nonviolence and how it could be used in exposing racial injustice. Lafayette and friends Diane Nash, James Bevel and John Lewis helped form the Student Nonviolent Coordination Committee or SNCC.

In 1962 Lafayette came to Selma as part of SNCCs effort to do grass roots organizing for the Voting Rights Movement. For the next two years, SNCC and the Dallas County Voters League registered 200 new voters. It was progress, but it was less than one percent of the more than 15,000 eligible black voters in Dallas County.

Lafayette’s grassroots organizing efforts and nonviolence teachings helped prepare the African-American citizens of rural Alabama to secure unrestricted access to the ballot box. He organized numerous marches and demonstrations to highlight the situation and bring attention to the injustice.

His connections to the people of Selma and Dallas County were critical in organizing the march to Montgomery. He also kept the focus on nonviolent responses when the marchers were confronted with violent opposition.

Today he continues his life mission of teaching nonviolence and advocating for equal rights. He has continued to be a voice for Dr. King’s vision of a better world.

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Marie Foster: Quiet Determined Activist

Marie Foster was a quiet and determined activist in Selma, Alabama during the Voting Rights Movement. Ms. Foster was a member of the Dallas County Voters League and one of the Courageous Eight.

The Courageous Eight were members of the African-American community in Dallas County that gathered in secret to organize and coordinate despite a court order forbidding such meetings. The Courageous Eight were: Ms. Marie Foster, Mr. Ulysses Blackmon, Ms. Amelia Boynton, Mr. Earnest L. Doyle, Mr. James Edward Gildersleeve, Reverend J. D. Hunter, Reverend Frederick Douglas Reese, and Reverend Henry Shannon, Jr.

In July of 1964 Judge James Hare issues an injunction forbidding the gathering of any African-American citizens in Dallas County in groups of two or more to discuss civil rights, voting rights, or to be in the presence of some 40 known “agitators” and activists. This injunction forced local leaders to meet in secret thus giving rise to the “Courageous Eight.”

Ms. Marie Foster was part of the Voting Rights Movement and she was on the Edmund Pettus Bridge when Alabama State Troopers attacked and tear-gassed the peaceful marchers. She was repeatedly beaten and suffered an injured ankle as a result of the attack. Despite the injured leg she made the march to Montgomery two weeks later.

“Mother Marie Foster” was a fixture in Selma until her death in 2003. “Even in her old age, she could still outwork the young activists of today," said Selma Mayor James Perkins Jr.

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Reverend Frederick D. Reese: Selma Foot Soldier

The Reverend Frederick D. Reese is a life-long resident of Selma, Alabama. Born in Dallas County in 1929 he is a graduate of Alabama State University and served as the president of the Selma Teachers Association in the mid 1960’s.

Reverend Reese helped organize the African-American Teachers March to the Dallas County Courthouse that helped galvanize the Selma Voting Rights Movement. Despite intimidation and threats he continued to march and help organize the African-Americans in Dallas County. When Judge James Hare issued his injunction Reverend Reese and seven other prominent community leaders continued to meet in secret to organize protests and marches. This group of leaders became known as the “Courageous Eight.”

Reverend Reese was a member of the Dallas County Voters League and worked to register African-Americans’ in rural Alabama in the 1960s. In 1964 Reverend Reese and Ms. Amelia Boynton sent a letter to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. asking him to come to Selma and help them move the Voting Rights Movement onto the national stage.

On “Bloody Sunday” Reverend Reese was near the front of the line of 600 peaceful marchers crossing the Edmund Pettus Bridge and was one of the scores injured by the charge of Alabama State Troopers. Fourteen days later he marched over that same bridge and walked the 54 miles to the Alabama State Capitol. The Selma to Montgomery March was a watershed event that lead to the passing of the Voting Rights laws.

Today Reverend Frederick D. Reese still delivers the Sunday morning sermon at Selma’s Ebenezer Baptist Church where he has been the pastor since 1965.

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Amelia Boynton: Selma Foot Soldier

Amelia Boynton Robinson has been called by many “The Mother of the Voting Rights Movement” for dedicating her life to securing access to the ballot box for African-Americans. Born Amelia Platts she attended Tuskegee University in Tuskegee Alabama. She became involved in voter registration in Dallas County and became a founding member of the Dallas County Voters League (DCVL) with the Reverend Frederick Reese. She married Sam Boynton in 1936 and worked tirelessly with her husband to register African-Americans in rural Alabama. 

In 1964 Ms. Boynton wrote the SCLC and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and asked them to come to Selma, Alabama and help them with their voter registration efforts. She was a grassroots organizer and helped plan and participated in many of the marches and demonstrations in Selma. 

On “Bloody Sunday” Ms. Amelia was part of the first group of marchers on the Edmund Pettus Bridge. She was struck repeatedly and teargased by Alabama State Troopers when the peaceful demonstrators were attacked. Pictures of her being carried unconscious from the bridge to Brown Chapel were featured on the front page of newspapers all over the world. 

Following the events in Selma, Ms. Amelia went on to work with Dr. King and other civil rights groups as an activist and leader. She was one of the most powerful forces for change in America and the world.

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@common @johnlegend on E.P.Bridge #Selma #glory #feelselmahistory #Oprah #MLK #bloodysunday

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“A voteless people is a hopeless people.”             – Amelia Boynton, Voting Rights Activist. #selma #selmamovie #selmaisnow #feelselmahistory #vote (at Photo from the Selma Interpretative Center - 2 Broad St. Selma, AL 36701)

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#selma #selmaisnow #selmamovie #feelselmahistory

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“Those green marble steps of the Dallas County Court House were 13 steps to freedom for Selma’s blacks.” –Bernard Lafayette 

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More than a moment. More than a movie. The birthplace of a movement. #FeelSelmaHistory

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#FeelSelmaHistory @bayou_lois_lane