Bloody Sunday: The 45th Anniversary of the March on Selma Alabama

Bloody Sunday, the march that led to the Voting Rights Act of 1965, was commemorated on Sunday March 7,2010 by over 6000 people as they crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge where Alabama state troopers beat Black protesters demanding the right to vote.

As has become a custom in the Selma, Sunday brought politicians and former participants together to recall the day the American conscience was awakened and congress was prompted to pass the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga, recalled his participation in the original march. "They came at us, released tear gas and started beating us up. I was hit over the head and fell with a concussion. Others were being beaten. I don't remember how I got back to the church but I did."

Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, the ex-wife of former South Africa President Nelson Mandela, a woman who fought for civil rights in her own country but was believed to participate in torture and murder in the 1980s, spoke to an audience at Wallace Community College stating that no place in the civil rights struggle was as important as Selma.

Reverend Jesse Jackson and other high ranking officials also attended. Jackson and Mandela marched arm in arm. Rep. Artur Davis, the first black man seeking to be the Governor of Alabama, joined the march though he is too young to remember the actual event. Ron Sparks, another gubernatorial hopeful was also in attendance and warmly received by many in the crowd who approve of his pro-gambling stand.

Considering the high feelings in Alabama regarding the issue of e-bingo it would have been impossible to have an event without the issue arising. It was clear that the march participants favor allowing the citizens of Alabama to vote on the gambling issue.

Al Sharpton had originally thought he would be present but notified organizers earlier this week that he would not be attending the march.