March from Selma to Montgomery (feb 1, 1965 – mar 21, 1965)

Description:

Previously the civil rights protestors were focused on day-to-day segregation such as separate but equal such as water fountains. Yet, in 1965 after the Civil Rights Act, the protestors and MLK started to shift their focus on registering African American voters. They focused first on the Alabama cities Selma and Marion. Hundreds of protestors were arrested and beaten throughout the marches in Alabama. One life lost was a 26-year-old African American farm laborer named Jimmy Lee Jackson. He died trying to protect his mother and older grandfather from police and was ultimately shot and killed in the process by a state trooper. The civil rights leaders and MLK used Jackson's story to get more protestors. Martin Luther King Jr. ultimately organized a march in Jackson's honor on March 7. Yet this march ended with state troopers and police attacking demonstrators on live tv, and was later dubbed a "bloody Sunday". Yet, this march ended up being a success because president Johnson promised to submit a voting rights bill. One week after Bloody Sunday, President Johnson went on television to denounce the violence. Two days later, he presented the Voting Rights Act to Congress. So on March 21, King led the march from Selma to Montgomery protected by the national guard. By the time the march started with 2,000 protestors, but grew to 25,000

Added to timeline:

Date: