In an op-ed published today in Daily Kos, Southern Poverty Law Center President and CEO Margaret Huang reflects on 60 years of struggle, marching and sacrifices for civil, voting and human rights for all Americans.
She cites the path of Sheyann Webb-Christburg, one of the youngest marchers attempting to cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, on the way to Montgomery, Alabama, on March 7, 1965, in a protest for Black voting rights.
“It was one of the scariest days of her life,” Huang said. “But even the brutal attacks against her fellow marchers couldn’t shake her determination.”
That fortitude and thirst for equality is the lifeblood of a movement, Huang said, adding that even as we remember and honor the veterans of the Civil Rights Movement, the youth of the nation will continue the battle in the years ahead.
“Sixty years later, we are in a new political environment that threatens to erode and erase the victories that the foot soldiers of the Civil Rights Movement marched for,” she said. “With the Voting Rights Act hollowed out today, many state legislatures are seeking to use voter suppression tactics to stifle the political power of people of color and other groups pushed to the margins.
“If we want to preserve our victories and honor the legacy of people who gave their lives in the struggle for civil rights, we need to motivate young people to participate,” Huang said. “We have to provide a clear vision for the future that inspires them with the promise of an inclusive, multiracial democracy. And we have to show them that we aren’t just paying lip service when we speak at a podium or post on social media — that we have the courage to act by directly standing up to those in power who are using the government to dismantle anti-discrimination protections.”
She sums up the mission in her closing: “The march continues, and apathy is not an option.”
To read her full column, click here.
Image at top: On March 25, 1965, Martin Luther King Jr. leads the march from Selma to Montgomery. Arm in arm with King are, from left, James Forman and Jesse L. Douglas. (Credit: Steve Schapiro / Corbis via Getty Images)
