Harris to mark 'Bloody Sunday' anniversary in Selma
CTV
U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris will visit Alabama on Sunday as the nation marks a defining moment in the fight for the right to vote, a trip that comes as congressional efforts to restore the landmark 1965 Voting Rights Act have faltered.
Harris is travelling to Selma, Alabama to commemorate the 57th anniversary of "Bloody Sunday," the day in 1965 when white state troopers attacked Black voting rights marchers attempting to cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge. The nation's first female vice president -- as well as the first African American and Indian American in the role-- will speak at the site often referred to as hallowed ground in the fight for voting right for minority citizens.
State troopers on March 7, 1965, beat and tear-gassed peaceful demonstrators, including young activist John Lewis, who later became a longtime Georgia congressman. he images of the violence shocked a nation and helped galvanize support for passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Her visit to the city that served as the cradle of the Voting Rights Act comes as Democrats have unsuccessfully tried to update the landmark law and pass additional measures to make it more convenient for people to vote.
The legislation, named for Lewis who died in 2020, is part of a broader elections package that collapsed in the U.S. Senate in February.
