Why Here?: Selma, Bloody Sunday, and the Long Civil Rights Movement

In this first video, Black southerners describe their experience living in the segregated American South. From tenant farming to segregated schools, African Americans organized to challenge the  “separate but equal" doctrine that defined life in the U.S.

Guiding questions: 

• What was life in Selma like during Jim Crow?

• What happened at Selma schools during this era? 

• How did growing up in a segregated place affect young Black residents? 

As this second video discusses, the experience in segregated schools threatened Black students’ sense of belonging. In addition, activists recall how the voter suppression techniques leveraged against them served as an incentive to protest not only for themselves, but also for the rights of their elders. 

Guiding questions: 

• Why did young people decide to march? 

• What was Selma like before the events of Bloody Sunday?

• Why were young people arrested during this time?

Protesters detail the horror of Bloody Sunday in this third video entry. Despite it being a watershed moment for the civil rights movement, protestors’ descriptions of this massacre demonstrate the extent to which racism was pathologized in the American South. 

Guiding questions: 

• What happened on the day now known as Bloody Sunday?

• Where did police stop protestors and what happened when they reached that point? 

The final video in this series has foot soldiers discuss the “Turnaround Tuesday” event that followed Bloody Sunday and the impact of the activism in Selma on shaping contemporary social justice efforts. 

Guiding questions:

• What happened on Turnaround Tuesday?

• What happened on the march from Selma to Montgomery?

• What happened during the trip back from Montgomery?

• Why are these events still important today?

The following resources provide more materials to investigate the historical context, particular individuals, and organizations involved in Selma and the broader civil rights movement.

Jim Crow Era: This web resource provides legal and political context for Jim Crow laws in the late-nineteenth-century United States. This page also demonstrates how resistance to Jim Crow laws shaped some of the beliefs that the civil rights movement was predicated on. 

What is Voter Suppression?: In this short PBS video, Dr. Terri Jett defines “voter suppression” and evaluates its current status in United States politics. 

SNCC Legacy Project: This website provides a history of the organization and their protests, additionally outlining the organization’s current efforts to uphold the values set by their predecessors 

John Lewis: This website outlines the life and legacy of SNCC chairman John Lewis. In addition, it provides primary sources such as interviews and biographies surrounding John Lewis from the mid-twentieth century. 

Bloody Sunday | John Lewis remembers that faithful day in Selma: This video highlights John Lewis’s experience at Bloody Sunday and documents how his work in the civil rights movement informs his work as a congressman. This video also contains video footage of Bloody Sunday. 

National Voting Rights Museum and Institute: Learn more about the stories from these historic events and interact with additional media surrounding the civil rights movement