SELMA, Ala. (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris visited Alabama as the nations marks a defining moment in the fight for the right to vote.
Harris will speak in Selma, Alabama on Sunday to mark the 57th anniversary of “Bloody Sunday." That is the day in 1965 when white police attacked Black voting rights marchers attempting to cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge.
At the Edmund Pettus Bridge, state and local lawmen attacked the marchers with billy clubs and tear gas, driving them back to Selma. Seventeen people were hospitalized and dozens were more injured by police.
The images of the violence shocked a nation and helped galvanize support for passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Her visit comes as Democrats have unsuccessfully tried to update the landmark voting rights law.
The vice president also met with civil rights leaders and deliver remarks while in Alabama, according to the White House.
I stand on the shoulders of giants, who risked everything for our freedoms. The baton has been passed to us to continue the fight to protect our right to vote. pic.twitter.com/NgKogsqx1T
— Vice President Kamala Harris (@VP) March 7, 2022
