Economic Indicators

Photos: Selma’s Bloody Sunday in 1965, and the 50th anniversary march this past weekend

The March 19 civil rights march across the Alabama River, the start of a 50 mile march to Montgomery, Alabama, with Martin Luther King Jr. waving from the front row.
The March 19 civil rights march across the Alabama River, the start of a 50 mile march to Montgomery, Alabama, with Martin Luther King Jr. waving from the front row.
Image: AP Photo/File
By
Lily Kuo
We may earn a commission from links on this page.

On March 7, 1965, Alabama state police and volunteers “tore through a column of Negro demonstrators with tear gas, nightsticks and whips,” in an attempt to stop their march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama in the name of equal voting rights for black Americans. Footage of the brutal attack on peaceful demonstrators galvanized civil rights activists; the Voting Rights Act, which bars racial discrimination in voting, was enacted five months later.

Half a century later, demonstrators marched again to commemorate the event known as “Bloody Sunday,” and to highlight the racism that still survives. Speaking to the crowd, president Barack Obama said, “Fifty years from Bloody Sunday, our march is not yet finished, but we’re getting closer.” (You can watch or read his full speech here.)

Here is a look at the marches in Selma, separated by 50 years:

A civil-rights march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, in 1965.
A civil-rights march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, in 1965.
Image: Reuters/Library of Congress
Martin Luther King leads march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, March 1965.
Martin Luther King Jr leads a march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, in March 1965.
Image: AP Photo/File
King speaks at a Selma church in January 1965.
King speaks at a Selma church in January 1965.
Image: AP Photo
Tear gas fills the air as state troopers, ordered by Alabama governor George Wallace, break up a march at the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma on what became known as Bloody Sunday.
Tear gas fills the air as state troopers, ordered by Alabama governor George Wallace, break up a march at the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma on what became known as Bloody Sunday.
Image: AP Photo/File
Amelia Boynton, a civil-rights leader, is carried by demonstrators after being injured during clashes with police on March 7, 1965.
Amelia Boynton, a civil-rights leader, is carried by demonstrators after being injured during clashes with police on March 7, 1965.
Image: AP Photo/File
Alabama state troopers break up the March 7, 1965 march in Selma with billy clubs. John Lewis, chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, whose skull was fractured, is in the foreground.
Alabama state troopers break up the March 7, 1965 march in Selma with billy clubs. John Lewis, chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, whose skull was fractured, is in the foreground.
Image: AP Photo/File
Catholic nuns in Selma on March 12, part of a demonstration in front of a black church.
Catholic nuns in Selma on March 12, part of a demonstration in front of a black church.
Image: AP Photo/File
King’s widow, Coretta Scott King (center, in white coat), and others on the 10th anniversary of the civil rights march in March of 1975.
King’s widow, Coretta Scott King (center, in white coat), and others on the 10th anniversary of the civil rights march in March of 1975.
Image: AP Photo/File

Here’s what the march looked like today:

Crowds gather before walking across the Edmund Pettus Bridge to mark the 50th anniversary of the March 7, 1965 civil-rights march.
Crowds gather before walking across the Edmund Pettus Bridge to mark the 50th anniversary of the March 7, 1965 civil-rights march.
Image: AP Photo/Mike Stewart
Crowds walk across the Edmund Pettus Bridge on March 8, 2015.
Crowds walk across the Edmund Pettus Bridge on March 8, 2015.
Image: AP Photo/Butch Dill
President Barack Obama walks across the Edmund Pettus Bridge between Amelia Boynton Robinson and John Lewis, both of whom were beaten during the original march.
President Barack Obama walks across the Edmund Pettus Bridge between Amelia Boynton Robinson and John Lewis, both of whom were beaten during the original march.
Image: Reuters/Jonathan Ernst
Reuters/Jonathan Ernst
Obama tours the National Voting Rights Museum and Institute in Selma.
A girl takes photos of president Obama during a speech to remember the civil rights march.
A girl takes photos of president Obama during a speech to remember the civil rights march.
Image: Reuters/Tami Chappell
Demonstrators commemorate the deaths of three girls who were killed when members of the Klu Klux Klan threw explosives into a church in 1963.
Demonstrators commemorate the deaths of three girls who were killed when members of the Klu Klux Klan threw explosives into a church in 1963.
Image: AP Photo/Bill Frakes
Children play after the march across the bridge.
Children play after the march across the bridge.
Image: AP Photo/Bill Frakes
Mercedes Binns, who has been to Selma 17 times, walks on the Edmund Pettus Bridge.
Mercedes Binns, who has been to Selma 17 times, walks on the Edmund Pettus Bridge.
Image: AP Photo/Bill Frakes
Crowds of people walk across the bridge.
Crowds of people walk across the bridge.
Image: AP Photo/Bill Frakes
Miss Black US, Cearah Hamilton; Miss Black Georgia, Brianna Wiggins; and Miss Black Teen, Ciara Thompson, watch a video screen showing a Sunday service at Brown Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church before the march across the bridge.
Miss Black US, Cearah Hamilton; Miss Black Georgia, Brianna Wiggins; and Miss Black Teen, Ciara Thompson, watch a video screen showing a Sunday service at Brown Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church before the march across the bridge.
Image: AP Photo/Gerald Herbert
Crowds walking across the bridge.
Crowds walking across the bridge.
Image: AP Photo/AP Photo/Bill Frakes
Women from Washington DC and Alabama watch a video screen showing the Sunday service.
Women from Washington DC and Alabama watch a video screen showing the Sunday service.
Image: AP Photo/Gerald Herbert
Demonstrators on the bridge.
Demonstrators on the bridge.
Image: AP Photo/Bill Frakes