Protesters at Edmund Pettus Bridge say voting rights are under attack
Last edited Sun May 17, 2026, 01:18 PM - Edit history (1)
(USA Today) SELMA, AL ‒ Over 60 years ago, on the March 1965 day dubbed "Bloody Sunday," the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, was filled with a crescendo of shouts, of bludgeoning batons.
Steady footsteps changed from an organized march into chaos as civil rights protesters fled the attacks of police.
But on May 16, 2026, the packed bridge was briefly enveloped in a heavy silence amid a different kind of protest. Pastors with graying beards held their heads high. An older couple dressed in their church best – a blue velvet dress and a sharp black suit – held hands, and the woman dabbed at her eyes with a crumpled, mascara-soaked tissue.
The event was part of a protest planned by voting rights advocates, faith leaders and activists from across the nation – the “All Roads Lead to the South” National Day of Action. They hope the protests, including another notable event in Montgomery, Alabama, will be a galvanizing moment as Republican-led southern states rush to draw congressional district boundaries ahead of the midterm elections.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2026/05/16/voting-rights-activists-supreme-court-redistricting-protests/90033266007/
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