Selma, Alabama Demonstration

Item

Title: Selma, Alabama Demonstration
Description: The violence that police officers committed against voting rights activists in Selma, Alabama in March 1965 galvanized the nation and put pressure on President Lyndon B. Johnson to pass the Voting Rights Act. That was not, however, the first demonstration in Selma for voting rights. This footage displays the nonviolent civil disobedience tactics that Black adults and teenagers utilized in February 1965 to spread their message about Selma’s racist voter registration practices across the country. It also highlights the police’s efforts to end the protest with threats of imprisonment. Martin Luther King Jr. had been jailed as a part of this multi-day protest along with many others and after his release, he announced that he planned to use the injustices committed against these peaceful protesters to convince President Johnson to pass legislation that would remedy this crisis.
Creator: NBC News Montgomery See all items with this value
Publisher: State Archives of Florida, Florida Memory
Date: February 1965 See all items with this value
Type: Video
Format: Video. B&W. 2:35 runtime. mp4 file
Language: English
Subject: Civil rights movement
See all items with this value; Selma, Alabama See all items with this value; Voting rights See all items with this value; Demonstrations See all items with this value; King Jr., Martin Luther See all items with this value; Youth activism See all items with this value; Voter suppression See all items with this value; Voter registration See all items with this value
Place: Selma, Alabama
Temporal Coverage: 1965
Rights Holder: State Archives of Florida
Rights: Used in accordance with the Fair Use provision of the Copyright Act

Item sets: Modern Voting Rights

Site pages: Brass Tactics: Suppressing, Protecting, and Expanding the Right to Vote

Media: Selma, Alabama Demonstration - Made with Clipchamp.mp4