47 years ago, a group of civil rights activists, priests, rabbis, and even a nun were two days into a four day march from Selma to Montgomery Alabama. You’ve probably heard of it. There were, in fact, three marches. The first had been violently ended by local and state police. The second got a bit farther than the first, showing that the group could cross the Edmund Pettus bridge, but not going further. The third set out to accomplish the goal of the first: a march to the capitol in protest of the denial of voting rights to black people in Selma.
All of the marches took tremendous courage. The first was a journey into who knows what. The second and third were journeys into almost certain violence. While there were federal troops along the route, the marchers were not armed. For all they knew they were about to be violently assaulted. The thing that strikes me most about this photograph is not that they linked arms, but that they wore polished shoes. I’m humbled by the self-respect and dignity this shows, and how it dignifies the people for whom they are marching. And it’s why I especially like those days when I get to wear a starched shirt and a bow tie to work.