WATCH: Marchers recreate bridge crossing
Published 7:08 pm Sunday, March 6, 2016
Mae Christian raises her fist during Sunday’s bridge crossing reenactment.
Thousands of marchers gathered Sunday outside Brown Chapel A.M.E. Church to mark the 51st anniversary of Bloody Sunday.
But some participants would have liked to see even more people.
“We should’ve had more than that,” Rankin said about Sunday’s crowd.
As a testament to his dedication for the cause, Rankin wore the same orange vest he wore during the first marches. The vest is now starting to fray and is held together with tape, but he continues to wear it year after year.
The 2016 Bridge Crossing Jubilee from The Selma Times-Journal on Vimeo.
Those who did march Sunday were all ages and from across the country.
“To me, as an American, this opportunity is crucial for me to engage in the history of my country,” said Erin Sedita, 20.
Sedita is a student at Northeastern University in Boston and traveled to Selma with a group of students as part of a spring break program. She said it’s important to participate in the re-enactment to raise awareness as well as connect to history.
“I feel that the people of 1965 did so much to advance the legacy of freedom and equality in our country and the people of our country since then haven’t given enough back,” she said. “The community has become neglected and there are so many issues that still face this city as well as other cities across the U.S.”
Photos from annual march across Edmund Pettus Bridge (Photos by Emily Enfinger | The Selma Times-Journal)
Posted by The Selma Times-Journal on Sunday, March 6, 2016
Sedita said she is fortunate and thankful to have been able to participate in the re-enactment.
“I’m very grateful to have this opportunity to attempt to be apart of this community and its important commemoration,” she said.
Marchers gathered outside Brown Chapel on Martin Luther King Street for a pre-march rally. From there, the group made its way down Alabama Avenue and then south onto Broad Street toward the Edmund Pettus Bridge.
Kelvin Cockrell, 17, said he has come to several bridge crossings in the past and keeps coming back for the feeling of community.
“The feeling of everybody coming together at once. You don’t get too much of that,” he said.
Rankin said although a lot has been accomplished since 1965, there is still a lot more that needs to be done.
“A lot of things haven’t been done yet,” he said. “We got a long way to go.”
