In the year of 1965, Selma became the focus of the Civil Rights Movement and the Voting Rights Act to register blacks to vote. Selma was the place for demonstrators, leaders, and activists to speak and march to fight for voting rights. There were 15,156 blacks in Dallas County, Alabama, but only 156 were registered to vote. On February 18, 1965, Southern Christian Leadership Conference leader James Orange was arrested in Perry County. That evening hundreds of blacks gathered and marched to the jail.

Jimmy Lee Jackson was shot in the stomach and later died in the hospital. At a large memorial service for Lee, demonstrators planned a march from Selma to Montgomery and announced that it would take place on March 7th. Once they crossed the Pettus Bridge they were attacked by police troopers. A lot of people were arrested, beaten, and tear gassed (which makes people cough and not breath). Later, Congress passed the Voting Rights Act on July 9, 1965. All over the south, thousands of blacks were registered to vote the next year.

I think it was a success because blacks got the right to vote and have freedom. The Voting Rights Act was not just for blacks, but for everyone.

This shows a map of Alabama where the march took place from Selma to Montgomery.

Kelvin Leflore