It was Freedom Day. Much of the Selma community had spent the previous night packed into pews listening to Dick Gregory speak in between much-need prayers and hopeful spirituals in preparation for the white vitriol they anticipated.
They didn’t know it would go quite like THIS.
350 Black folks wrapped the block of the Dallas County courthouse. Shortly after, notoriously racist Alabama state troopers pulled up with billy clubs in hand and helmets embellished with confederate flags.
They were ready and armed, but for what?
To suppress Black votes. Courthouse registrars purposely slowed down the voting process, registering only a few people every hour. Even worse, the police forbade voters from leaving the line to eat, drink, or use the restroom.
And any volunteer who attempted to bring water to those waiting in line was also viciously beaten.
The KKK-heavy police force tortured, intimidated, and arrested our people for hours. But we persevered, and though many never got to register that day, it inevitably laid the foundation for 1965's Selma-to-Montgomery March.
Similar voter suppression tactics, like requesting mail-in ballots, fewer drop boxes, and voter roll purges, are still used today.
Freedom Day is a reminder that Black votes do and have always mattered. Why else would white supremacy be so hell-bent on trying to suppress them?