act now, and get this document shredder free. that s a $29 value. or go to lifelock.com/go. try lifelock risk-free for 60 days and get this document shredder free a $29 value when you use promo code go. call now. 50 years ago today hundreds of african-americans marched peacefully from selma, alabama, to montgomery for the right to vote. police attacked them with night sticks whips and even a rubber hose wrapped in barbed. that day lives infamously as
that there were real victories won here after bloody sunday and the march between selma and montgomery, london johnson gave the speech where he said we shall overcome and finally signed the voting rights act in 1965 which clearly came the fabric of american life and so that s where we are today a number of speakers including the governor of this state, the mayor of selma, the president, john lewis who the president calls his hero. they spoke and now we re at the point where most folks have been gathering and have pretty much left. it s pretty thin now. so now president obama with dignitaries and original foot soldiers. and among those is president george w. bush. we understand that he was holding hands with congressman lewis on this very emotional day. take us through reactions you heard while you were among the crowd today. i think one thing that struck
it s not just negros but really it s all of us who must overcome the crippling legacy of bigotry and injustice, and we shall overcome. he was the first american president to use the theme song. i looked at dr. king tears came down his face. i started crying. i didn t like to cry in front of people but i cried. president johnson federalized alabama national law, called out parts of the united states military to protect us all the way from selma to montgomery. reporter: on august 6th president johnson signed a landmark voting rights act ensuring that all citizens could vote regardless of their color.
bloody sunday. president obama and 100 members of congress will be in selma for the anniversary. john lewis had his skull fractured that day. athena jones has his story. the bridge of selma is almost a holy place. it is a place where people gave a little blood to redeem the soul of america. in this city people couldn t register to vote simply because of the color of their skin so they had to change that. reporter: john lewis, who has spent almost three decades in congress,s was just 25 years ago. i can never forget what it felt like to be in that experience on bloody sunday. we came to the highest point. down below we saw a sea of blue. alabama state troopers and behind the state troopers we saw men on horseback so when we got within hearing distance of the
little has changed in this country. and i understood the question. the report s narrative was sadly familiar. evoked the kind of abuse and disregard for citizens that spawned the civil rights movement. but i rejected the notion that nothing s changed. what happened in ferguson may not be unique, but it s no longer emdemic and no longer sanction by law and custom and before the civil rights movement it most surely was. we do a disservice to the cause of justice by intimating that bias and discrimination are immutable. that racial division is inherent in america. if you think nothing s changed in the past 50 years, ask somebody who lived through the selma, chicago or the los angeles of the 1950s. ask the female ceo who might