By National Action Network
Photos: Twitter\X\Black Voters Matter
New York, NY (March 3, 2024) – Rev. Al Sharpton, Founder and President of the National Action Network (NAN), will march in Selma, Alabama, with Vice President Harris and a host of civil rights leaders as they commemorate the 59th anniversary of Bloody Sunday. Their demonstration will serve as a galvanization in the fight to protect voting rights and diversity in Corporate America, which have been continuously attacked by right-wing legal activists. The demonstration will start at 3:15 p.m. at the Edmund Pettus Bridge.
Rev. Sharpton has regularly traveled to Selma to march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge, where in 1965 police brutally attacked peaceful voting rights activists led by John Lewis. The nationally televised assault served as a catalyst for President Lyndon Johnson to prioritize the landmark Voting Rights Act of 1965. Yet the promise and the safeguards of that legislation have been gutted for over a decade, following the Supreme Court’s crushing Shelby v. Holder decision.
Since that 2013 dilution of the law, Rev. Sharpton has called for Congress to pass the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Act. The legislation, named for the activist-turned-Congressional legend, would create national safeguards to vote – countering many state’s efforts to make ballot access even harder.
Sunday’s march comes at a crucial time in the fight to protect civil rights. After the Supreme Court gutted affirmative action in higher education last summer, right-wing activists have targeted DEI in Corporate America and have sued organizations like the Fearless Fund over their support of women of color. NAN has called hedge fund billionaire Bill Ackman, who has become one of the faces of the fight against DEI and has picketed outside of his Manhattan office for nine straight weeks.
After marching, Rev. Sharpton will host a special episode of PoliticsNation on MSNBC at 5 p.m. ET from Selma.
About National Action Network (NAN)
National Action Network is one of the leading civil rights organizations in the Nation with chapters throughout the entire United States. Founded in 1991 by Reverend Al Sharpton, NAN works within the spirit and tradition of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to promote a modern civil rights agenda that includes the fight for one standard of justice, decency, and equal opportunities for all people regardless of race, religion, nationality, or gender.
For more information go to www.nationalactionnetwork.net (http://www.nationalactionnetwork.net/).
