Congressman Al Green Marched Hollowed Ground; Edmund Pettus Bridge

(Washington, D.C.)--This weekend, Congressman Al Green joined Representative John Lewis, along with several heralded civil rights leaders and his fellow colleagues in leading hundreds across Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama to commemorate the 40th Anniversary of Blood Sunday.

Congressman Al Green reflected as he crossed Edmund Pettus Bridge: "I realized that the people who chose to participate in that march were of great courage. They were doing it at a time when we didn't have the rights that we have today."

The march was the culmination of a weekend filled with rendering accounts and reflections of the historic days and events leading up to the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Congressman Al Green, and neighboring colleague Congresswoman Jackson Lee, were members of the largest Congressional delegation to date, to visit key Alabama landmarks of the civil rights movement.

Members of the delegation had the opportunity to speak with and listen to testimonials from some of the unsung heroes, sheroes, and foot soldiers of the civil rights movement. In addition to visiting the Rosa Parks Museum, the Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church, and the Civil Rights Memorial, members also participated in the unveiling of the Civil Rights Freedom Wall. Following the unveiling at Brown Chapel A.M.E. Congressman Al Green had the opportunity to meet with the widow of slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., Coretta Scott King.

At Sundays re-enactment, Georgia Congressman John Lewis, the only surviving Big Six civil rights leader, turned to the marchers at the foot of the bridge and quieted them by saying, "On that day 40  years ago we were disciplined; there was no talking and no singing. Pass it through the crowd that there will be no talking or singing across the bridge."

It was there, on March 7, 1965, that Lewis suffered a fractured skull when state troopers beat back the group of pro-voting rights demonstrators as they attempted to peacefully cross en route to Montgomery from Selma, Alabama

"In those days African Americans suffered abused that many times went unpunished and despite knowing the possibility existed that they could be thrown off that bridge to their death - they marched on. I gained a greater respect for them after having seen the ominous Pettus Bridge," Congressman Al Green said.

Three/fourths of the way across the bridge Congressman Lewis stopped the marchers for a second time and recanted a story, that has so many times gone untold, of the then sheriff, Jim Clark, turning his deputies on the marchers as they began to pray. On the night prior to the march, Sheriff Clark invited every white male over the age of 21 to join his posse and become deputized.

In August of that year, President Lyndon Johnson signed into law the Voting Rights Act, making discriminatory tests at polling places illegal. Many in the delegation described the courage displayed by the president, who, according to his daughter Lynda Johnson Robb, knew that passage of the law would mean an end to his career.

"It is important to remember that President Johnson signed it in ink but the Voting Rights Act was written in blood. While Johnson clearly made history, history made Johnson. I think he's one of our greatest presidents thank God he didnt try cleaver ways to avoid doing what was right," Congressman Al Green said.

While the Voting Rights Act is a permanent federal law, it contains some temporary provisions: the "preclearance" (Sections 4 and 5), the bilingual provisions (Section 203), and which will expire in 2007. Since 1965, Congress has amended the act to expand the formula that determines which states and political subdivisions are covered (Section 4(b)). It was also amended to prevent enforcement of any election law that would have a racially discriminatory effect (Section 5), and provide voting assistance for language minorities (Section 203).

"It is critical that we strengthen the act because there are people that are working to role back the clock. And they will do so if they're not checked, that is why we have to fight to ensure that we maintain the Voting Rights Act because if we do nothing we threaten to turn back the hands of time on the progress weve made as a nation," Congressman Al Green said.