Selma Marks 60th Anniversary of Bloody Sunday With Renewed Focus on Voting Rights

Commemorations highlight the ongoing struggle for racial equality as new voting restrictions and civil rights challenges emerge.

The 60th anniversary of Bloody Sunday is being commemorated in Selma, Alabama, where civil rights marchers were brutally attacked in 1965 while advocating for voting rights.
The events of Bloody Sunday, including the televised violence against peaceful protestors, were pivotal in the passage of the Voting Rights Act later that year.
This year’s commemorations occur against a backdrop of new voting restrictions, federal rollbacks on diversity initiatives, and debates over teaching Black history in schools.
Civil rights leaders and lawmakers are using the occasion to advocate for the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, which aims to restore protections gutted by a 2013 Supreme Court decision.
Exhibits, reenactments, and discussions are planned, including a restored photo exhibit documenting the violence of Bloody Sunday and its enduring impact on the civil rights movement.