It was fifty years ago tomorrow that voting rights marchers finished their trip from Selma to Montgomery. A group including the daughters of Martin Luther King and Governor George Wallace will finish the march tomorrow with a ceremony at the state capitol.
Seventy four year old Bennie Lee Tucker of Selma is one of the original foot soldiers who took part in the marches. He says his generation started the process toward civil rights and it’s up to the next generation to carry on the fight…
“If they don’t register to vote, they’ll be right back where they started, in slavery again,” Tucker said. “But, now they got to make up their minds, there’s no turning back. And, they got to stop the killing, pull their pants up, start going to church, and realize they’re brothers and sisters.”
Be sure to join the Alabama Public Radio news team this Friday at 7 p.m. for the documentary “More Bridges to Cross....” That’s this Friday at 7 p.m. on Alabama Public Radio.
A historical tour of Montgomery is going on throughout the month of March. The Montgomery Area Chamber of Commerce Convention & Visitor Bureau is presenting the “Dream Marches On” guided trolley tour.
Attendees have the chance to see many historical landmarks all over the city from the Civil war to the Civil Rights Movement.
Meg Lewis is the Director of Tourism and Special Projects for the Montgomery Area Chamber. She says people really get to experience the history of the entire city.
“On the tour you’ll see everything from the old neighborhoods where people like Rosa Parks lived all the way out to the newest most renovated tourist attractions,” Lewis said. “So you really get a sense of what’s happened here who lives here characters who built the history of this city which in reality means the history of this country.”
People also get to see the town of St. Jude where the Selma to Montgomery Marchers stayed the night before reaching the Capitol. The tour goes on throughout the rest of this week. The pickup and drop off location is at the Montgomery Visitors Center.
An Alabama lawmaker is looking to bring football back to UAB.
Vestavia Hills Rep. Jack Williams filed proposed legislation late last week to require the University of Alabama System to have a football program at UAB, so long as it has a football team at its main Tuscaloosa campus.
UAB President Ray Watts in December announced that the school was shuttering its football, rifle and bowling programs because of costs. The decision drew substantial backlash.
More than 35 House members have signed on as co-sponsors of the bill.
Williams has also filed legislation seeking to revamp the University Of Alabama Board Of Trustees and increase representation from the communities where the three campuses are located.