SELMA, Alabama – Shayan Webb Christburg, age 8, was sought to lead hundreds of people in March 1965 in a march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama for Black American voting rights.
On Sunday, the 60th anniversary of Bloody Sunday and Selma-to-Montgomery March, Webb-Christburg said they believe their voting rights are at risk.
“Back in the ’60s, we fought to get the right to vote,” she said in an interview. “Today, in 2025, we are still fighting to retain the right to vote through John Lewis’ Voting Rights Act. That’s sad.”
Webb-Christburg was one of tens of thousands of people who traveled to Selma Sunday to celebrate the events of March and to cross the annual bridge that celebrates participants. The event attracts states and national leaders, especially in election year. In 2015, then-President Barack Obama celebrated the 50th anniversary of Bloody Sunday. Kamala Harris was then the Vice President of the United States. We talked about it at last year’s event.
But on Sunday, Webb Christberg was thinking about President Donald Trump and the threat. Punishing “illegal protests” On a university campus. Young people need to understand the power of their voices, she said.
“I think they are voices of hope, our containers of change, and certainly our tools of peace and progress,” she said.
Law enforcement officials attacked a group of peaceful civil rights protesters across the Edmund Petas Bridge in Selma on March 7, 1965. After a legal battle, Pastor Martin Luther King Jr. and other civil rights activists led the march from Selma to Montgomery. The event was a major catalyst for the Voting Rights Act, signed by President Lyndon Johnson later that year.
Webb-Christburg said the event “changed my life in the deepest ways.” She said it needs to bloom where college students are planted.
“Everyone has something to contribute to this world, so you have to use your gifts and your talents,” she said. “Always trust yourself and define yourself for yourself. Don’t let anyone define you.”
Politicians arrive in Selma
State and local politicians also attended festivals, including Hakeem Jeffries, the leader of the House of Representatives minority in D-New York. U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters, D-California; US Senator Rafael Warnock, D-Georgia and civil rights activist Al Shapton. The day’s event ends with a mass crossing of Edmund Pettis Bridge.
D-Mobile’s MP Shomari was one of thousands who crossed the bridge on Sunday. At rallys since March, he urged participants to vote to honor the original Marcher. Referring to last year’s presidential election, figures said the country “didn’t respect the men and women who crossed that bridge several months ago in November.”
“But the good news is that we can recommend, we can reorganize, we can reorganize ourselves,” he said. “In two years, we can make liars from all those who say they don’t vote.”
In an interview, lawmakers said they were inspired by the public of those marching on Sunday.
“It’s exciting, motivated and revitalized,” he said in an interview. “It’s incredibly inspirational to see the thousands of people coming back here in the Mecca of the Civil Rights Movement.”
The Democrat Kentucky governor also marched over the bridge to defend the program (DEI) that is under attack from the Trump administration and right-wing activists at the rally.
“Now we have a federal government that tells you that diversity is a foul language,” he said. “Please tell me where I stand. I believe diversity is strength, and not weakness.”
Besher thanked the vast majority of black crowds who allowed him to participate in the march.
“We know we have more marches,” he said. “If you have me, I’ll be there every step of the road.”
Rev. Bernardrafayette, Selma key organizer around March, and Pastor Jesse Jackson, who participated in the 1965 march, were both pushed across the bridge in a wheelchair on Sunday.
Webb-Christburg took a while to take a photo with the Alabama troopers.
“When I first came across this bridge, I was only eight years old and the youngest girl that Sunday,” she told the Troopers. “When I saw you all standing here today, we are not facing tear gas. Thank you for your service.”
Webb-Chistburg encouraged university students and young people to engage in the community.
“The way you define yourself is to be involved and engaged in making a difference,” she said.
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