It took about 14 hours from my door to parking my rental car to make it to Selma. And if you add the cancelled flights and pitiful tearful pleas at the DCA ticket counter, it drained me.
So when I marched across the Edmund Pettus bridge, it felt like a hard fought win. To see the thousands of people flooding across with me from all across the country, I was deeply moved. I forgot my disdain for The airline and snow in general and fell into a powerful moment, a true movement of people across a bridge honoring courage.
This 50 year old tradition marks the day a group of disenfranchised Americans took a stand. A stand that at the time seemed inconsequential and unable to affect change. The original foot soldiers from that terrible day wear medals honoring their courage and sacrifice. I marveled at the courage and sacrifice of African-Americans truly being memorialized and lifted up in this country.
This tradition takes place every year. Yet until last year, I did not know about it. And now that our first African American President has spoken, a movie documenting the events of that day has been released, and Oscars given, some hundreds of thousands showed up.
As I drove back to my hotel room from Selma, a local radio host was fielding input from listeners on whether or not the celebration was too commercialized and was there a general benefit to Selma. Yes it was commercialized, which brought revenue to the city for one weekend. Don’t we want one of the only annual observances of our struggle for civil rights to draw new generations to learn about our history? There should be an effort to bring jobs, and revenue to Selma on an ongoing basis and the Bloody Sunday weekend would have been a great opportunity to start the dialogue. Sadly, it did not happen.
I’m sure there were other concerns as well. There always are. More than anything, the pilgrimage to Selma with its marching, singing, President Obama’s masterful words, and John Lewis, reconnected me with the movement for equal justice at a time when I desperately needed it.
In that spirit, what will we do today to advance the cause of equal justice? What will you travel, cry, and fight to attain in this world to continue the civil rights movement? It’s our turn to take a stand.
Yours in the movement,
Brandi
#TBT #WeGotNow #SelmaisNow #BloodySunday #TeamNULYP #JoinNULYP #Millennials
For more information on joining the National Urban League Young Professionals, visit www.wegotnow.co or follow @NULYP.
Serve with us during our upcoming National Day of Service on April 25th focused on exposing high school students to STEAM fields. #NDOS
