President Biden spoke to Selma and the nation during Alabama’s annual bridge crossing jubilee. The White House described the address as a way to re-focus on voting rights. The President’s audience was in Selma to remember the 1965 attack that became known as “bloody Sunday.” A police posse attacked voting rights marchers as they tried to cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge. Biden told the crowd in Selma that fight for equality at the ballot box is crucial for the future of the nation…
“Selma is reckoning,” said the President. “The right to vote…the right to vote and have your vote counted is threshold of democracy and liberty. With it, anything is possible. Without it, without that right, nothing is possible.”
Biden also spoke how Selma and other communities around the nation will benefit from the newly passed Federal infrastructure measure which, among other things, will provide internet coverage to communities that lack that connection. The President also touted his efforts to lower the cost of insulin for seniors, and how he elicited a pledge from Republican lawmakers to protect social security during this year’s State of the Union address. Biden told young voting rights activists that the fight isn’t over…
“Let’s keep marching, let’s keep the faith, and most of all…let’s remember who we are. We are the United States of America, and there’s nothing…nothing beyond our capacity when we act together. So, let’s go and finish the job,” challenged Biden.
Alabama Public Radio collaborated with The Selma Sun newspaper for our coverage of the Bridge Crossing Jubilee. APR also produced an international award winning documentary on the fiftieth anniversary “bloody Sunday.” The program titled “More Bridges To Cross” was the first APR program to include a segment produced by an APR student intern. Click below to listen again.
