Bloody Sunday

United States [1965]

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July 20, 2026

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"Bloody Sunday" refers to the violent confrontation on March 7, 1965, in Selma, Alabama, during the first attempt to march from Selma to Montgomery to protest racial injustice and advocate for voting rights for African Americans. White law-enforcement officers brutally attacked approximately 600 peaceful, predominantly Black demonstrators with tear gas, billy clubs, and horses as they crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge.123

The attack, witnessed by millions on television, galvanized public support for the civil rights movement. This event, along with other demonstrations in Selma, directly contributed to the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which aimed to eliminate discriminatory voting practices against African Americans. The Selma March became a pivotal moment in the struggle for civil rights in the United States.124536

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Edmund Pettus Bridge
Bloody Sunday
On March 7, as the march began, King’s lieutenant Hosea Williams and John Lewis, the chairman of SNCC, led some 600 peaceful demonstrators onto the Edmund Pettus Bridge. At the east end of the bridge, the marchers encountered sheriff’s deputies, deputized civilian “possemen”…
Read More
On March 7, as the march began, King’s lieutenant Hosea Williams and John Lewis, the chairman of SNCC, led some 600 peaceful demonstrators onto the Edmund Pettus Bridge. At the east end of the bridge, the marchers encountered sheriff’s deputies, deputized civilian “possemen”…
Read More

John Lewis
Selma March and House of Representatives
…which became known as “Bloody Sunday,” and within 48 hours demonstrations in support of the marchers had taken place in some 80 American cities. The resulting heightened awareness would contribute mightily to the passage of the landmark Voting Rights Act , which was signed into law by Johnson on…
Read More
…which became known as “Bloody Sunday,” and within 48 hours demonstrations in support of the marchers had taken place in some 80 American cities. The resulting heightened awareness would contribute mightily to the passage of the landmark Voting Rights Act , which was signed into law by Johnson on…
Read More