Montgomery, Alabama, the final site of the civil rights march from Selma is set to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the event. Montgomery Mayor Steven Reed joins LiveNOW's Christina Evans to share the series of events the city will hold to honor the 1965 civil rights moment.
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NewsTranscript
00:00Thanks for staying with us here on Live Now from Fox. I'm your host, Christina Evans.
00:04Let's continue on with some of those other top stories. We now want to turn our attention
00:08to Alabama to rewind time, go back 60 years to talk about a day that's important in our
00:14history. Want to put this up for you as well, because as we're looking ahead to this weekend,
00:19we do know that as this is from the mayor of Montgomery, Steven Reed, he says, join
00:24us as we commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Selma to Montgomery March. Explore
00:29events, stories, and ways to engage with this historic moment. So if you aren't aware,
00:34back on March 21st in 1965, civil rights demonstrators led by the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr.
00:42began their third attempt to march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama. This time it happened
00:48underneath the escort of U.S. Army and National Guard troops that were assigned by President
00:53Lyndon B. Johnson. Of course, those first couple of attempts were unsuccessful, bringing
00:58us an event that we often refer to as Bloody Sunday, which we commemorated earlier this
01:03month. And now to talk about where we are standing now and how we're moving on into
01:08the future, I want to bring into the conversation the mayor of Montgomery, Steven Reed. Thank
01:13you so much for being with us here, Mayor Reed on Live Now from Fox. Again, this is
01:17a momentous occasion. So for folks, we gave them just a little bit of a backstory about
01:22the importance of this day in history. But can you sort of take us back there, what this
01:27means, that march from Selma to Montgomery 60 years ago?
01:33Yes, and thank you for having me. You know, it's such an important point, certainly to
01:38remember the tragedy of Bloody Sunday and what took place. But we also want to commemorate
01:43the triumph, the courage, the commitment that the marchers had 60 years ago to go 54
01:50miles from Selma to the state capitol here in Montgomery for the right to vote. That's
01:56something that we should not take for granted. It's something we should never forget. And
02:00it's something that we have to understand. We have to continue to work for it. As late
02:04Congressman John Lewis always said, and certainly told many of us throughout his time
02:11coming back here. So we want to commemorate this here in the city of Montgomery for the
02:16reason of not just looking back, but also recognizing where we are in the present and
02:21what we have to do in order to move forward.
02:23And this Sunday, some of those events that are happening throughout the weekend as well.
02:28Mayor Reed, you've talked about it. They're going to be important for folks to be able to
02:32look forward and also remember their history. So just talk a little bit about some of the
02:37events that you have laid out in advance and what you're most looking forward to this
02:40weekend. Well, we'll start tonight here in Montgomery with a reception to honor the
02:46heroes and sheroes of the movement and certainly those who continue their work after
02:511965, bringing us to present day leaders and activists who are continuing that work.
02:58And then tomorrow we want to reach out to a new generation of families and young people
03:03who may not know this history, who may not quite understand how these dots are connected
03:08and what image was drawn from that.
03:11So we'll have Family Fun Day at George Washington Carver High School, which is directly
03:15across from Campsite No. 4 where the marchers spent their last day and night before
03:22completing the march to the Capitol.
03:24Then we'll reenact the Stars for Freedom rally that took place 60 years ago with Harry
03:30Belafonte, Sammy Davis Jr.
03:32and Joan Baez and so many other entertainers with modern names like Big Boy, Pastor Mike
03:38Jr., Taylor Hicks, Jaqueline Carr, so many others, Lorenz Tate, so many others who
03:45will be here to reenact that concert that was served as encouragement and inspiration
03:53for those marchers on the last leg of that.
03:56And then on Sunday, we will march from the city of St.
04:00Jude, which is the campus there, to downtown Montgomery, to our state capitol, where
04:07Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King III will address us.
04:10Pastor Jamal Harrison Bryant and so many others will address us with a word of motivation,
04:17a level of spirituality that will be needed, but also to reenergize all of us who are on
04:26the lines right now to push for the protection of voting rights that we have and the
04:32reestablishment of the Voting Rights Act that has been gutted over the last decade or so.
04:38We have to continue the march.
04:39We have to continue the fight.
04:40And so this is not just about symbolism and looking back.
04:43It's about substance and doing what we can right now to move forward.
04:50I'm glad you brought that up, Mayor Reed, because, of course, the conversation about
04:54voting rights and where that happens in this country, some people may not understand
04:58quite the impact that Alabama, that march from Selma to Montgomery, the historic speech
05:03that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
05:05gave back 60 years ago and how it totally impacted the right for the Voting Rights Act
05:10to be able to be passed.
05:12Can you sort of talk a little bit more about how it feels for Alabama and your two cities
05:17to feel like you've had such an important part in history that's impacted our country
05:21for years and years to come?
05:23Well, Montgomery is known as the birthplace of the civil rights movement because of the
05:27courageous stand that Mrs. Rosa Parks took on that bus here in the city in 1955.
05:34And that's when shortly thereafter, a 26 year old pastor from Atlanta by the name of
05:38Martin Luther King Jr. became the leader of the Montgomery Improvement Association,
05:43which catapulted him to national prominence.
05:47And I think when you consider what cultivated 10 years later with this march from
05:52Selma to Montgomery against the forces of local and state government and having to be
05:58brought in from the federal side to assist those marchers, it's nothing short of
06:04courageous. They are patriots of this nation and they are just really heroes and
06:11heroes that we have to continue to highlight and tell the story because it's not just
06:17about that march.
06:18It's not just about the symbolism of Bloody Sunday or of Dr.
06:21King speaking to 25,000 marchers here in Montgomery.
06:26Then it is the work that they did, the work that Mrs.
06:30Coretta Scott King did and Reverend Ralph Abernathy and Hosea Williams, so many others
06:36who were involved in that.
06:38And so when you consider the local grassroots activists there in Dallas County who are
06:43leading those efforts long before Dr.
06:46King was called in and asked to come in to assist all the way through what people did
06:53even after 1965, after Dr.
06:56King was assassinated in 68 and continuing the work to make sure that Black, brown people
07:03across this country and people who had never had the full right to participate in this
07:07democracy had access to vote, it's important because we can't allow people to think that
07:15what we have right now is how it's always been.
07:18It has not. And again, when we talk to those foot soldiers, when we talk to those who
07:25were a part of this movement originally and you heard in the past prior to her passing,
07:31Mrs. Amelia Boynton Robinson, talk about why they fought for the right to vote.
07:35We have to remind those people of all ages and backgrounds and races who sit out elections,
07:41both local, state and federal, why their vote matters, why the democracy depends on them
07:47to participate and will only be as strong as them knowing these stories, but also them
07:53carrying out the vision and carrying out the spirit of which the marches and certainly
07:59Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. had in leading the march and his great speech and talking about
08:06how long, not long, would they have to wait in order to get their rights.
08:13And there's so many great passages in that speech that are relevant to today that I encourage
08:17anyone who hasn't heard that speech to listen to it, to watch the archival footage, and
08:23certainly to participate with us here in Montgomery in person sometime over the weekend,
08:29culminating in the march on Sunday. But if you can't be here, then we want you certainly
08:33participate virtually. Join us in the metaverse by using your mobile app or moving using your
08:40phone or whatever it is that you utilize to maximize the technological improvements and
08:46join us in the metaverse at mgmsci.com because we want everyone to experience this and we
08:52want everyone to understand not only the past, but where we are in this present day and how
08:58we have to move forward. The threat of voting rights being pulled back even more moving
09:04forward into the future.
09:05And Mayor Reed, I'm glad that you brought that up because that's the unique part about
09:10this weekend's event. You all have partnered. Again, folks can go into the metaverse so
09:15they can feel like they're on this march, experience what it feels like to be there
09:20back in 1965 when it all happened as well.
09:24Talking about some of those important moments, how did this collaboration come apart so
09:28that way folks all around the country, all around the world in essence, could be able to
09:32be a part of that celebration?
09:35Well, it was brought to us by a private company who really wanted to make sure to maximize
09:40the impact of this history and to make sure that people wherever they were located could
09:46participate even if they could not be here.
09:49And there was a way just to be a force multiplier for the story of the Selma-Montgomery
09:54March to show the march route as it was in 1965 and to make sure that people understood
10:01what the city of Montgomery is like in 2025.
10:05And I thought it was a great idea and it was something that our Community Development
10:09Department really thought would allow us to reach out to people who might not be familiar
10:14with this history and who might not have the full understanding, but a way to reach new
10:20audiences to tell the story of these courageous marchers and these courageous foot
10:24soldiers and just what change they brought about by their fortitude and their
10:29commitment to making America fulfill its most ambitious promises.
10:34And that was to make sure everyone had the right to vote and everyone had the right to
10:39feel the full citizenship in this country.
10:42All right, Mayor Reed there, Mayor of Montgomery, Alabama, as we're showing some of
10:46this archival footage, still very powerful images 60 years later of the pathway that
10:53those marchers took over the Edmund Pettus Bridge, marching from Selma to Montgomery,
10:58all for the right to vote.
10:59We appreciate you for being with us here on Live Now from Fox.