As President Joe Biden prepares to travel to Selma, Alabama, to commemorate the 58th anniversary of Bloody Sunday, Democratic leaders and activists are reflecting on the state of voting rights and racial equality, and the legacy of late civil rights icon Congressman John Lewis.
Biden will deliver remarks at the Edmund Pettus Bridge and participate in the annual commemorative bridge crossing event on Sunday. In his remarks, the president will argue that protecting voting rights is integral to delivering economic justice and civil rights for Black Americans today, according to the White House.
Nearly six decades ago, civil rights leaders led by a young Lewis were brutally attacked by police on the Edmund Pettus Bridge as they marched from Selma to the Alabama state capitol in Montgomery to protest voter suppression and racial inequality. Lewis notably suffered a skull fracture from the police attack and nearly lost his life.
When theGrio asked about the president’s visit to Selma during Thursday’s White House briefing, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre noted that Biden accompanied then-Congressman Lewis during the annual civil rights commemorative event in 2019. The Georgia lawmaker died of cancer a year later.
“It was an honor for him to do that,” said Jean-Pierre, the first Black person to serve as White House press secretary. “If you think about how the President got involved in politics, it was very much connected to the civil rights movement. So this is important to the President.”
The Biden spokesperson added that it’s important to “continue to remember those who fought very hard for the rights of many Americans.”
Ahead of Biden’s remarks, a congressional delegation of leaders and community members honored Lewis and martyrs of the civil rights movement on Friday during an annual wreath-laying ceremony at the Civil Rights Memorial Center in Montgomery. Before his…
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