Congressman John Lewis recalls terror of 'Bloody Sunday'
Fifty years ago this weekend, John Lewis, now a Democratic congressman from Georgia, co-led more than 600 voting-rights protesters toward the state capitol in Montgomery, Alabama. At the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, though, marchers were met by police who attacked the crowd when it refused to turn back.
"They came towards us, beating us with night sticks, trampling us with horses, releasing the tear gas," Lewis told a gathering on Saturday at the Brown Chapel A.M.E. Church, the same place where he took refuge as the young chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. "I thought I was going to die on that bridge. I thought I saw death."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.
Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.
