I Had A Dream

On March 21, 1965, the 50-mile march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, began here as a demonstration that led to a major advance in civil rights for millions of Black Americans. Defying threats of death, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., led 400 Black and White Americans on the longest, largest, and most dramatic march of his 13-year career. It gave southern Blacks the right as citizens to cast a ballot and help determine and operate the government under which they lived. In the succeeding 10 years, Black voters in the affected states increased from 1,463,000 to 3,845,000, Black elected officials rose from 72 to 2,568, and hundreds of others were named to public posts. Blacks attained a more equitable share of tax benefits and won greater self-esteem and respect from others as voting citizens. These changes grew from the efforts of those who planned, encouraged, marched, were jailed, beaten, and died to overcome injustice and secure voting rights for all Americans, including James J. Reeb, Viola Gregg Liuzzo, and Jimmy Lee Jackson.

Selma, Alabama · United States