President Barack Obama Saturday afternoon will speak live at the historic Edmund Pettus Bridge, marking the 50th anniversary of the Selma to Montgomery Marches.
Eight years ago, almost to the day, on March 4, 2007, then-Senator Barack Obama delivered a speech (photo) on voting rights at the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama. That historic bridge was the scene of the March 7, 1965 Bloody Sunday conflict, where about 600 civil rights marchers led by now-Senator John Lewis were attacked by police, as they began their march to Montgomery, Alabama.Â
This afternoon, he returns to that site, now as America’s first Black President.
“I’m here because somebody marched,” Obama said in Selma eight years ago. “I’m here because you all sacrificed for me.”
That 1965 Bloody Sunday attack led to the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which the U.S. Supreme Court effectively dismantled last year, and which the Republican-majority House and Senate refuse to repair.
President Obama will be joined by former President George W. Bush, although House and Senate Republicans are not expected to be in attendance.
Watch the President deliver an important speech this afternoon, at around 2:30 PM EST, live right here.
UPDATE: The President’s speech in full:
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Image by Barack Obama via Flickr and a CC license