Officials Discuss Events Leading Up to Selma March Anniversary
Area leaders reflect on City of St. Jude's role in the 1965 Selma-to-Montgomery march on Thursday, Feb. 5, 2015
Drew Taylor,
Montgomery Advertiser 4:05 p.m. CST
February 5, 2015
At 9 a.m. Thursday morning, Montgomery Mayor Todd Strange calculated the number of hours before the 50th anniversary of the Selma-to-Montgomery march: 720 hours.
"In 30 days, we will have the eyes of the world right here on Montgomery, Alabama," Strange said.
Strange and several other city and local leaders met at City of Saint Jude to discuss activities leading up to the 50th anniversary of the march, which began March 7, 1965 on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma.
"Today, we want to begin talking about the activities that will surround not only what will happen around the 6th and 7th, but what will happen between the 23rd and 27th," Strange said.
Maureen Costello, director of the Southern Poverty Law Center's Teaching Tolerance project, said that on March 7, the SPLC would host a free screening of the documentary "Selma: The Bridge to the Ballot," which will be screened at the Montgomery Performing Arts Center.
"What it does is emphasize that students and their teachers were the backbone of the movement," Costello said. "Selma was chosen and became part of the national spotlight not through some act of fate, but because for two years, high school students had been taking to the streets and had been protesting and demonstrating."
That same day, Alabama State University will hold a commemorative concert honoring the anniversary, which will feature singer Patti LaBelle. ASU President Gwendolyn Boyd said that during the concert, Georgia Congressman John Lewis, who marched alongside Martin Luther King, Jr. on the Selma-to-Montgomery march, will be honored with the inaugural John Lewis Freedom Award.
"We are truly honored to be able to honor him for the work he has done and for his passionate continuous display of the fight for freedom and justice and all the work he continues to do in the nation and around the world," Boyd said.
Tickets for the concert will go on sale Friday for $35. Boyd said remaining tickets on March 7 would be $45. Tickets can be purchased by calling the ticket office at 334-229-4100 or at www.ticketreturn.com.
Montgomery Public Schools Superintendent Margaret Allen said that on March 6, the Harlem Globetrotters would be visiting Carver High School to play a game and talk about their experiences. The event will start at 6 p.m. and is part of the "I Am More Than" group. There is no charge for admittance.
"They will talk about their part in sports history, the adversities they faced those early days and will share life lessons," Allen said.
In addition, Allen said 30 schools in the system were participating to create a unity quilt, which would be unveiled at the Montgomery Museum of Fine Art early next month.
Douglas Watson, executive director of the City of Saint. Jude, said that between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. March 24, there would be a "Stars of Freedom" rally, which would feature music by Toia Jones, a Montgomery native who competed on the NBC show "The Voice." Starting at 6 p.m. that night, St. Jude would host an open mass that would feature several guest speakers, such as Archbishop Thomas Rodi of the Archdiocese of Mobile, as well as Wilton Gregory, archbishop of Atlanta.
"Our focus is on the youth and enriching our community," Watson said. "That's what we live for."
Watson said that on March 25 at 11 a.m., there would be a group that would meet at St. Jude to march to the Capitol.
Drew Taylor,
Montgomery Advertiser 4:05 p.m. CST
February 5, 2015
At 9 a.m. Thursday morning, Montgomery Mayor Todd Strange calculated the number of hours before the 50th anniversary of the Selma-to-Montgomery march: 720 hours.
"In 30 days, we will have the eyes of the world right here on Montgomery, Alabama," Strange said.
Strange and several other city and local leaders met at City of Saint Jude to discuss activities leading up to the 50th anniversary of the march, which began March 7, 1965 on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma.
"Today, we want to begin talking about the activities that will surround not only what will happen around the 6th and 7th, but what will happen between the 23rd and 27th," Strange said.
Maureen Costello, director of the Southern Poverty Law Center's Teaching Tolerance project, said that on March 7, the SPLC would host a free screening of the documentary "Selma: The Bridge to the Ballot," which will be screened at the Montgomery Performing Arts Center.
"What it does is emphasize that students and their teachers were the backbone of the movement," Costello said. "Selma was chosen and became part of the national spotlight not through some act of fate, but because for two years, high school students had been taking to the streets and had been protesting and demonstrating."
That same day, Alabama State University will hold a commemorative concert honoring the anniversary, which will feature singer Patti LaBelle. ASU President Gwendolyn Boyd said that during the concert, Georgia Congressman John Lewis, who marched alongside Martin Luther King, Jr. on the Selma-to-Montgomery march, will be honored with the inaugural John Lewis Freedom Award.
"We are truly honored to be able to honor him for the work he has done and for his passionate continuous display of the fight for freedom and justice and all the work he continues to do in the nation and around the world," Boyd said.
Tickets for the concert will go on sale Friday for $35. Boyd said remaining tickets on March 7 would be $45. Tickets can be purchased by calling the ticket office at 334-229-4100 or at www.ticketreturn.com.
Montgomery Public Schools Superintendent Margaret Allen said that on March 6, the Harlem Globetrotters would be visiting Carver High School to play a game and talk about their experiences. The event will start at 6 p.m. and is part of the "I Am More Than" group. There is no charge for admittance.
"They will talk about their part in sports history, the adversities they faced those early days and will share life lessons," Allen said.
In addition, Allen said 30 schools in the system were participating to create a unity quilt, which would be unveiled at the Montgomery Museum of Fine Art early next month.
Douglas Watson, executive director of the City of Saint. Jude, said that between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. March 24, there would be a "Stars of Freedom" rally, which would feature music by Toia Jones, a Montgomery native who competed on the NBC show "The Voice." Starting at 6 p.m. that night, St. Jude would host an open mass that would feature several guest speakers, such as Archbishop Thomas Rodi of the Archdiocese of Mobile, as well as Wilton Gregory, archbishop of Atlanta.
"Our focus is on the youth and enriching our community," Watson said. "That's what we live for."
Watson said that on March 25 at 11 a.m., there would be a group that would meet at St. Jude to march to the Capitol.
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