- March 4, 2022 Social Justice, Sister Stories
On March 7, 1965, activists from across the country gathered in Selma, Alabama, ready to demand voting rights to Selma’s African-American citizens. The group gathered at Brown Chapel A.M.E. Church, and planned on marching across the Edmund Pettus Bridge. The bridge, however, was blocked by armed state troopers. When the nonviolent demonstrators refused to turn around, the state troopers took to force. Seventeen demonstrators were hospitalized, and another 40 were treated for injuries as the troopers unleashed tear gas and batons on the peaceful group. The attack was broadcast across television, and opened millions of American eyes to the brutal realities of racism in the South.
Just two weeks later, Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. returned to Selma with 3,200 protesters. Together, the group marched 49 miles to the state capitol, Montgomery, in protest of civil rights. This protest became a catalyst for the Civil Rights Act of 1965, which would be signed by President Lyndon Johnson in August.
The Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet played an important part in the Selma movement. CSJ Sisters Barbara Moore, Rosemary Flanigan and Roberta Schmidt took to the streets of Selma, Alabama, as they marched in support of the civil rights movement.
Sister Barbara Moore recalls the group's commitment to nonviolence. “They talked about the strategy of non-violence and no matter what happened, you were not to fight back or say anything or do anything. This one young man said, ‘What if something happens and you just can’t not fight back?’ And he said, ‘You don’t march.’”
Sisters of Selma Video
Learn more about the inspirational work in Selma of the CSJs and women religious in Sisters of Selma: Bearing Witness for Change.
Sisters of Selma: The March to Dismantle Racism Continues
Linger Over Breakfast KC: February 29, 2020
Featuring Sisters Barbara Moore and Rosemary Flanigan
Sisters Barbara Moore and Rosemary Flanigan shared about their experience during the historic 1965 Selma marches, their continued focus on social justice efforts, and how all of us can make a difference today in our continued march to dismantle racism. Watch the video.