Civil rights activist Al Sharpton joined a huge crowd that gathered in Selma, Alabama, to relive the historical fifty-mile-march for voting rights that in 1965 gave way to bloodshed.
The first march was dubbed “Bloody Sunday,” as state and local police beat the marchers with clubs and tear gas. The attacks were broadcast on television news, and are said to have shifted public opinion about the Civil Rights Movement.
Today, on day one of the march, the group crossed the famous Edmund Pettus Bridge without harm or roadblock.
The 50-mile trek from Selma to Montgomery will take place over the next week.
It will end on Friday with a rally at the Alabama State Capitol.
