On this date in 1965, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) launched a voter registration drive in Selma, Alabama. This effort was part of the broader fight for African American voting rights in the South.
Selma was chosen because Black residents faced significant barriers to voting, including literacy tests, poll taxes, and intimidation. The campaign led to the Selma to Montgomery marches, including the infamous “Bloody Sunday” on March 7, 1965, when peaceful marchers were brutally attacked by law enforcement.
These events helped push for the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which outlawed discriminatory voting practices. The Selma movement remains a pivotal moment in the Civil Rights Movement.
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