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Features
Selma:
Thousands Commemorate 50th Anniversary Of ‘Bloody Sunday’
BY IRIS B. HOLTON Sentinel City Editor
This weekend, thousands of people will converge on the small City of Selma, Ala- bama. People from through- out the country will visit the city to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of “Bloody Sun- day.”
Tampa resident and na- tive Selma resident Richard Smiley will be among those visiting the city. Smiley was a 16-year-old when the events took place.
Smiley said he was living in a foster home when events developed that led up to the March for Civil Rights. When it became known that he planned to participate in the March, his social worker told him that he would have to leave the foster home if he did.
“I participated in all three Marches and when I got back, my things were sitting on the porch,” Smiley re- called. Smiley recalls that the first day the group at- tempted to march was over- cast and cold.
“We walked from Brown’s Chapel AME Church to the Edmund Pettus Bridge. When we got to the bridge, we knew we were in trouble. There were 150 to 200 State Troopers waiting for us. The Posse, who were a group of men with badges,
was behind us on horseback. “John Lewis and Jose Williams asked the Troop- ers if we could pray. As we started to kneel down, they started attacking us and using tear gas. I could hear skulls being busted on the front line. They beat us all the way back to the church,”
Smiley recalled.
He said as the news of the
beating spread throughout the country, Civil Rights leaders such as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., came to Selma. He recalls that they tried to regroup and Dr. King tried to calm them down. A few days later, they attempted the second March. Smiley said Dr. King led the second March and when the group reached the bridge, the troopers were there once again. This time, they prayed and returned to the church.
It was not until March 21st, after receiving permis- sion from a judge, did the group make the pilgrimage from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama. On March 9th, an- other group will re-enact that 54-mile walk. They will ar- rive in Montgomery on March 15th.
“After the March, I was homeless and slept in churches. But when they (of- ficials) found out, the pastors started getting threats. The SCLC hired me as a staff
Richard Smiley was one of the victims subjected to tear gas by local law enforcement.
... Smiley was 16-years-old when he participated in the Civil Rights demonstrations in Selma, Alabama in March 1965.
member and I slept on the office floor,” he said.
The experience was life- altering for Smiley. As a member of SCLC, he was sent to Memphis Tennessee, Jackson, Mississippi, and Davison, Georgia. He be- came one of the first Civil Rights activists to register Blacks to vote.
Smiley said after a few months, he had the opportu- nity to finish his education. He went to Midland High School in Los Olivos, Califor- nia. After graduating, he con- tinued his education at a community college and went on to earn his B. A. Degree in Black Studies and a Master’s Degree in Human Resource Management.
Smiley said he knew that he would be homeless if he participated in the Marches, “But I could not continue to go to high school, graduate and know that I couldn’t vote.
Looking back on the events that took place 50 years ago, Smiley said, “We need to get excited about vot- ing again. African Americans need to go back to their com- munities and do political ed- ucation before elections. We have to manifest our emo- tions by continuing to vote.”
Thousands of people eventually crossed the Edmund Pettis Bridge on March 7, 1965. Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., his wife, Mrs. Coretta Scott King, and other Civil Rights leaders led the 50- mile march.
Finally, on March 21, 1965, thousands of people began a 50-mile walk from Selma to Montgomery Alabama as part of a Civil Rights campaign on voting and other Civil Rights.
The Alabama State Troopers and local law enforcement attacked the peaceful demonstrators at the Edmond Pettis Bridge, March 7, 1965.
PAGE 2 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY TUESDAY, MARCH 10, 2015