March 7, 1965 was unseasonably cold for Selma. The sky was gray, despite the sun trying to peek through the clouds. The wind gusts rustled through the trees at the George Washington Carver homes, the city’s largest public housing project, and moved the damp air around, making the 40-degree day seem even brisker.

Down the street, just outside Brown Chapel, a mass of 600 activists huddled under blankets lining Sylvan Street. Their plan was to walk across the nearby Edmund Pettus Bridge in protest of the cruel treatment of Black people and denial of their basic civil rights. The indelible images that came later that day, which became known as Bloody Sunday, documented both heroic bravery and unspeakable brutality – shocking the world and focusing national attention on the rampant injustice and racism faced by millions of Black Americans.

Longleaf pine trees surrounded the marchers that day and lined the routes where they walked in protest, bearing witness to the determination of everyday people, the viciousness that they faced fighting for their freedoms, and ultimately, their triumphs.

Many of the trees along the march routes have since died or been cut down. Others were planted after 1965, but on the Foot Soldiers Park & Education Center site, there is a canopy of trees that were there in March of 1965 and remain today.

Foot Soldiers Park considers both sets of trees as witnesses to Selma’s past, present and future. They are being incorporated into the design of the Park & Education Center, framing the open public space at the center of the campus and surrounding the memorial that will commemorate the marches. The “witness trees” will serve as landmarks and testament to the history made through the series of marches, observers of the present, and bearers of hope for the future.

Interestingly, longleaf pine forests used to cover vast expanses of Alabama, but are currently endangered due to a federal policy of fire suppression. The trees need regular fire to thrive, but by the 1920s most were gone. Before that, they played a key role in the growth and development of the early US economy. Enslaved Black people harvested turpentine from the pines and cut the forests for lumber. Legendary for its strength, durability, and usefulness, the lumber was considered the “King’s Wood” and used for shipbuilding when America was first colonized. It was also used for building large homes in cities in the South. But similar to Selma, the forests benefited others outside of the region more than within it. The trees were in high demand in the Northeast, used for flooring, joists, house paneling, and timber for the construction of warehouses, railroad cars, bridges and wharves. Today, less than 5% of the forests remain in the South.

True to Foot Soldiers Park’s approach of solving intersectional challenges and maximizing resources, the organization is considering building a nursery of the pines on the Park & Education Center campus for multiple purposes. The trees would serve as a nature-based solution for storing carbon, a driver of revenue and jobs through the sale of new trees to current restoration sites across the country, and/or producer of the long needles of the pines commonly used for “Longleaf Pine straw” mulch, a multi-million dollar wholesale industry.

The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was one of the most important laws passed in the civil rights era.

The Voting Rights Act of 1965 (VRA) was signed into law on August 6 by President Lyndon B. Johnson, not long after civil rights activists in Selma successfully marched to Montgomery.

The law was considered the crown jewel of the civil rights era because it guaranteed voting rights to all citizens, regardless of race or ethnicity, and created political opportunities for Black and Brown communities to fully participate in the political system on an equal footing with others.

Before the VRA was signed, states deliberately defied court rulings and implemented measures like poll taxes and literacy tests to prevent Black people from voting. As a result, Black the political power of Black communities was effectively non-existent, even in areas where they held the majority.

The VRA stopped states from enacting voting policies that were racially discriminatory. By the early 1970s, disparity in registration rates between white and Black voters dropped from nearly 30% in the early 1960s to 8%. The law also enabled the election of hundreds of federal, state, and local candidates of color in states with a history of discrimination like Alabama. In 2008, Black voter turnout was nearly equal to that of white voters for the first time, and the first Black president Barack Obama was elected.

Still, decades of backlash to the VRA and other legislative victories made by the civil rights movement have slowly whittled away at the progress made, and in recent years, those attacks reached a highpoint.

In 2010, state legislatures started passing measures under the guise of protecting elections against voter fraud – rolling back early voting, eliminating same-day registration, disqualifying ballots filed outside home precincts and creating demands for photo ID at polling places, all of which negatively impacts Black voters.

In 2013, the Supreme Court struck down a key part of the VRA, leading to 29 states passing 94 laws over the next decade that make it more difficult to vote, especially in communities of color.

As a result, in Alabama in 2020, turnout in Black-majority Selma was just 57%, among the worst in the state.

Our 3rd Anniversary festivities were filled with good memories and great people, making it a perfect celebration. Saturday, March 2nd, under overcast skies, we brought the sunshine to our corner of the world at Foot Soldiers Park and Education Center. From 1 PM until 4 PM, attendees enjoyed food, music from DJ Double J and the Clutch Band, games, and simply gathering together as a community. We had everything from a fun-for-all Kid Zone to a voter participation rally.

Our guest speaker, Senator Robert Stewart, inspired the people of our community with a positive, encouraging message. He also made it a point to recognize the efforts of our Youth Advisory Board, asking them to stand for a round of applause!

Our main focus of the day is honoring our foot soldiers. Without them and the selfless sacrifices they made, there would be no cause for celebration. Each year, we have set aside time to say thank you. Our 2024 honorees were:

Posthumously:

• Leroy Molton
• Margaret Moore-Jones
• Lula Sharpe-Parrish

Onsite:

• Ruth Anthony
• Phyllis Parrish-Alston
• Joyce Nadine Parrish-O’Neil

Honors for our heroes of the past were coupled with recognition of our heroes of the present. Robert Ramsey, Jr. accepted the award for the bikers who stepped up following the January 2023 tornado that left devastation all around our city. The bikers were a beacon of hope in the wake of the disaster, delivering supplies for the citizens of Selma who lost so much in the storm.

It takes a lot of hands, hearts, and minds to make our organization flourish. We gratefully honor our board for the work they do behind the scenes. Special spotlight to our board members who were able to be on the ground in Selma for the anniversary, including our Board Chair Donovan Duncan and board members Nikole Hannah-Jones and Larcy Douglas, who were also in attendance.

The halls of the Lighthouse Rehabilitation & Healthcare Center were decked to mark the holiday season as the seniors gathered with our National Youth Advisory Board members and staff to celebrate.

During the evening, the seniors enjoyed singing carols, playing games, and receiving special gifts.

Thanks to generous donations from Rural Health Medical Program, Inc., Councilwoman Jannie Thomas, Councilman Clay Carmichael, Mrs. Eboni Thomas Pettway, Mrs. Billye Smitherman, and Alexis Perry, the guests of honor received gift bags filled with essentials they love. We were even able to put gifts under the tree for the seniors who were unable to attend.

The environment was overflowing with love. In a heartwarming gesture, the Foot Soldiers Park team led by Founder, JoAnne Bland, CEO Kimberly Smitherman, and Program Director, Angela Benjamin, personally adopted residents whose names had not yet been chosen from the Angel Tree to ensure everyone was included in the holiday cheer!

We are grateful for the opportunity to bring happiness to these seniors and we look forward to continuing to make a positive impact in our community not just during the holidays, but every day!