Borough President Eric Adams and attorney Norman Siegel marching to City Hall
(Photo: Roy Murphy / NLN)
NEW YORK — March 7, 2015. On Saturday 300 people marched over the Brooklyn Bridge in New York to commemorate the civil rights march in Selma, Alabama, 50 years ago.
The 1965 Selma to Montgomery march was marked by the extreme violence of state troopers and local posse members who attacked the unarmed marchers with billy clubs, tear gas, mounted police and police dogs.
The violence was televised and seen by millions of Americans and people world wide. The resulting outcry led to the passage of the Voting Rights Act later that year.
Brooklyn Borough President, Eric Adams, organized Saturday’s commemoration and led the march arm-in-arm with civil rights attorney Norman Siegel, preceded by a bass-and-snare drum band.
Many in the crowd carried signs protesting the deaths of Eric Garner on Staten Island and Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri — recent victims of police shootings.
The Brooklyn chapter of the NAACP
(Photo: Roy Murphy / NLN)
President Obama traveled to Selma to mark the anniversary and said, “If Selma taught us anything, it’s that our work is never done.” The President said that civil rights marchers years ago “proved that nonviolent change is possible and that love and hope can conquer hate.”
Borough President Adams said Selma has become a central symbol in the fight for social justice. “Selma is no longer just a location. It is a concept, and a mindset, and a belief,” he said.
Adams used the occasion to promote the launch of a project called Ten Thousand People Who Care. “Instead of demonizing Muslims we must make room for everybody,” he said.
“In the early days blacks couldn’t wear clothes made of the cotton they picked. The early Chinese built the railroads but couldn’t ride on the trains,” he said, commenting on the progress made in the area of civil rights.
His project aims to organize ten thousand people from all walks of life to actively work on improving their communities, continuing the struggle for civil rights.
“Brooklyn must show the entire country how to move forward,” Adams said.
A drummer marks time for the marchers
(Photo: Roy Murphy / NLN)
Roy Murphy is a regular contributor to NLN and a member of the National Writers Union, UAW Local 1981
