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126-486: SCLC members DCVL members SNCC members State of Alabama Dallas County City of Selma City of Birmingham City of Montgomery City of Selma City of Tuscaloosa City of Tuskegee Other localities The Selma to Montgomery marches were three protest marches , held in 1965, along the 54-mile (87 km) highway from Selma, Alabama , to the state capital of Montgomery . The marches were organized by nonviolent activists to demonstrate

252-553: A poll tax and passing a literacy test and comprehension of the constitution. Subjective application of the laws effectively closed most blacks out of politics. Selma is a major town and the seat of Dallas County , part of the Alabama Black Belt with a majority-black population. In 1961, the population of Dallas County was 57% black, but of the 15,000 blacks old enough to vote, only 130 were registered (fewer than 1%). At that time, more than 80% of Dallas County blacks lived below

378-510: A posse of 200 deputies, some of whom were members of Ku Klux Klan chapters or the National States' Rights Party . Possemen were armed with electric cattle-prods. Some were mounted on horseback and carried long leather whips they used to lash people on foot. Clark and Chief Baker were known to spar over jurisdiction. Baker's police patrolled the city except for the block of the county courthouse, which Clark and his deputies controlled. Outside

504-467: A 54 mi (87 km) march from Selma to the state capital of Montgomery. Jackson was the only male wage-earner of his household, which lived in extreme poverty . Jackson's grandfather, mother, wife, and children were left with no source of income. During a public meeting at Zion United Methodist Church in Marion on February 28 after Jackson's death, emotions were running high. James Bevel , as director of

630-458: A conscious effort to get arrested, for the benefit of publicity. On February 1, King and Ralph Abernathy refused to cooperate with Chief Baker's traffic directions on the way to the courthouse, calculating that Baker would arrest them, putting them in the Selma city jail run by Baker's police, rather than the county jail run by Clark's deputies. Once processed, King and Abernathy refused to post bond. On

756-515: A demonstration. Another common tactic is to infiltrate legitimate demonstrations in the attempt to stir widespread violence and rioting, seen most recently in a spring anti-Iraq war gathering in Vancouver, Canada. This has become so commonplace that sources within activist organizations have told STRATFOR they police their own demonstrations to prevent infiltration by fringe groups. Alabama State Capitol The Alabama State Capitol , listed on

882-416: A general doctrine of nonviolence or pacifism , but from considerations relating to the particular situation that is faced, including its legal, cultural and power-political dimensions: this has been the case in many campaigns of civil resistance . A common tactic used by nonviolent campaigners is the "dilemma demonstration." Activist trainer Daniel Hunter describes this term as covering "actions that force

1008-454: A hindrance to black liberation. Dr. King later said that he thought this was an attack on him. But Malcolm told Coretta Scott King that he thought to aid the campaign by warning white people what "the alternative" would be if Dr. King failed in Alabama. Bellamy recalled that Malcolm told her he would begin recruiting in Alabama for his Organization of Afro-American Unity later that month (Malcolm

1134-596: A lawful way to demonstrate. The First Amendment of the United States Constitution specifically allows the freedom of assembly as part of a measure to facilitate the redress of such grievances. "Amendment I: Congress shall make no law ... abridging ... the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances." A growing trend in the United States has been

1260-696: A licence from the authorities. Such laws include the Public Entertainment and Meetings Act and the Public Order Act. Under the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 and the Terrorism Act 2006 , there are areas designated as 'protected sites' where people are not allowed to go. Previously, these were military bases and nuclear power stations, but the law changed in 2007 to include other, generally political areas, such as Downing Street ,

1386-564: A march to the courthouse in Marion , the county seat of neighboring Perry County , to protest the arrest of James Orange. State officials had received orders to target Vivian, and a line of Alabama state troopers waited for the marchers at the Perry County courthouse. Officials had turned off all of the nearby street lights, and state troopers rushed at the protesters, attacking them. Protesters Jimmie Lee Jackson , his grandfather and his mother fled

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1512-551: A museum. Alabama has had five political capitals and four purpose-built capitol buildings during its history since it was designated as a territory of the United States. The first was the territorial capital in St. Stephens in 1817; the state organizing convention was held in Huntsville in 1819, and the first permanent capital was designated in 1820 as Cahaba . The legislature moved

1638-411: A national outcry, and the marches were widely discussed in national and international news media. The protesters campaigned for a new federal voting rights law to enable African Americans to register and vote without harassment. President Lyndon B. Johnson seized the opportunity and held a historic, nationally televised joint session of Congress on March 15, asking lawmakers to pass what is now known as

1764-458: A new three-story tetrastyle portico was built during the 1985–1992 restoration / renovation project.. The new portico includes columns that match the Composite order of the original West Front main entrance portico on the 1851 west side elevation. Upon entering the ground floor of the capitol building, one enters the main stair-hall. It is the location of cantilevered stairways that spiral up to

1890-416: A public issue, especially relating to a perceived grievance or social injustice . A demonstration is usually considered more successful if more people participate. Research shows that anti-government demonstrations occur more frequently in affluent countries than in poor ones. Historian Eric Hobsbawm wrote of demonstrations: Next to sex, the activity combining bodily experience and intense emotion to

2016-460: A raised basement. The current front facade is approximately 350 feet (110 m) wide and 119 feet (36 m) tall from ground level to the top of the lantern on the dome. The first capitol building to be built in Montgomery was designed by Stephen Decatur Button (1813-1897), of Philadelphia , Pennsylvania . Andrew Dexter Jr. (1779-1837), one of Montgomery's town founders and influential in

2142-480: A ring of Corinthian columns and topped with a simple twelve-sided small glazed glass windows in the top lantern. John P. Figh and James D. Randolph were the principal construction contractors. Figh had previously completed extensive brickwork on the William Nichols -designed campus lay-out of buildings for the new University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa . Randolph was also in charge of the carpentry work, which

2268-489: A talk by Malcolm X to 3,000 students at the Tuskegee Institute , and invited him to address a mass meeting at Brown Chapel A.M.E. Church to kick off the protests on the morning of February 4. When Malcolm X arrived, SCLC staff initially wanted to block his talk, but he assured them that he did not intend to undermine their work. During his address, Malcolm X warned the protesters about " House Negroes " who, he said, were

2394-409: A variety of elements. These may include: Demonstrations are sometimes spontaneous gatherings, but are also utilized as a tactical choice by movements. They often form part of a larger campaign of nonviolent resistance , often also called civil resistance . Demonstrations are generally staged in public, but private demonstrations are certainly possible, especially if the demonstrators wish to influence

2520-583: Is granted by art. 5th, item XVI, of the Constitution of Brazil (1988). Freedom of assembly in the Russian Federation is granted by Art. 31 of the Constitution adopted in 1993: Citizens of the Russian Federation shall have the right to gather peacefully, without weapons, and to hold meetings, rallies, demonstrations, marches and pickets . Demonstrations and protests are further regulated by

2646-424: Is nonviolent; not everybody who registers is supposed to be nonviolent." The incident between Clark and Cooper was a media sensation, putting the campaign on the front page of The New York Times . When asked if she would do it again, Cooper told Jet , "I try to be nonviolent, but I just can't say I wouldn't do the same thing all over again if they treat me brutish like they did this time." Dr. King decided to make

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2772-780: The Alabama House of Representatives in the bicameral body of the Alabama State Legislature . Each wing were each joined to the 1851 structure with a narrow hyphen connecting structure. Each hyphen features a recessed two-story Greek Ionic style portico on the west facade. Both of the adjoining side-wings for the Senate and House feature two-story hexastyle Ionic entrance porticoes on their north and south elevations, respectively. The west and east facades of these wings also feature decorative two-story hexastyle pseudo-porticoes with engaged Ionic columns. A new east wing addition with

2898-626: The Alabama National Guard under federal control, the FBI and federal marshals (segregationist Governor George Wallace refused to protect the protesters). Thousands of marchers averaged 10 mi (16 km) a day along U.S. Route 80 (US 80), reaching Montgomery on March 24. The following day, 25,000 people staged a demonstration on the steps of the Alabama State Capitol . The violence of "Bloody Sunday" and Reeb's murder resulted in

3024-453: The Birmingham church bombing on September 15, 1963, which killed four black girls, black students in Selma began sit-ins at local lunch counters to protest segregation; they were physically attacked and arrested. More than 300 were arrested in two weeks of protests, including SNCC chairman John Lewis . On October 7, 1963, one of two days during the month when residents were allowed to go to

3150-596: The British Isles / United Kingdom to the American South and Alabama. The murals illustrate MacKenzie's artistic interpretation of the history of Alabama as he read and learned about it. They were executed on canvas, painted from 1926 to 1930 at his Mobile studio and then shipped to Montgomery by railroad for installation in July 1930. The murals depict the hostile meeting of Hernando de Soto and Tuskaloosa in 1540,

3276-505: The Choragic Monument of Lysicrates . This first capitol building unfortunately burned on December 14, 1849, little more than only two years after its completion. The ruins were cleared by March 1850, with a new replacement building soon to follow. The current Alabama State Capitol is the sixth State House or Capitol structure in the history of Alabama and the second to be built in the current state capital city of Montgomery . It

3402-818: The Confederate States of America in 1861, before Richmond, Virginia was designated as the capital. Delegates meeting as the Montgomery Convention in the Senate Chamber drew up the Provisional Constitution of the Confederate States on February 4, 1861. The convention also adopted the Permanent Constitution here on March 11, 1861. In 1965, more than one hundred years later, the third (and final) Selma to Montgomery march ended at

3528-740: The National Register of Historic Places as the First Confederate Capitol , is the state capitol building for Alabama . Located on Capitol Hill, originally Goat Hill, in Montgomery , it was declared a National Historic Landmark on December 19, 1960. Unlike every other state capitol, the Alabama Legislature does not meet there, but at the Alabama State House . The Capitol has the governor's office and otherwise functions as

3654-545: The Palace of Westminster , and the headquarters of MI5 and MI6 . Previously, trespassers to these areas could not be arrested if they had not committed another crime and agreed to be escorted out, but this will change following amendments to the law. Human rights groups fear the powers could hinder peaceful protest. Nick Clegg , the then Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman, said: "I am not aware of vast troops of trespassers wanting to invade MI5 or MI6, still less running

3780-630: The United Nations special rapporteur on the right of peaceful assembly and association. In 2019, its report expressed alarm at the restrictions on the freedom of peaceful assembly: The Special Rapporteur has expressed concern regarding laws adopted in many countries that impose harsh restrictions on assemblies, including provisions relating to blanket bans, geographical restrictions, mandatory notifications and authorizations. [...] The need for prior authorization in order to hold peaceful protests [is] contrary to international law [...]. A report released by

3906-560: The history of Alabama , kept a prime piece of property empty in anticipation of the capital city eventually being moved to Montgomery from Tuscaloosa . This property, atop what was then known as Goat Hill due to its use as a pasture, was chosen as the site for the new state capitol structure. Construction began in 1846, with the new completed building presented to the state on December 6, 1847. Button credited much of his architectural inspiration to Minard Lafever 's publication Beauties of Modern Architecture . Button's designed building

Selma to Montgomery marches - Misplaced Pages Continue

4032-431: The police . Police and military authorities often use non-lethal force or less-lethal weapons, such as tasers , rubber bullets , pepper spray , and tear gas against demonstrators in these situations. Sometimes violent situations are caused by the preemptive or offensive use of these weapons which can provoke, destabilize, or escalate a conflict. As a known tool to prevent the infiltration by agents provocateurs ,

4158-478: The Capitol to draft a new revision of the Constitution of Alabama . Convention chair John B. Knox said they were there to end "the menace of negro domination." The new constitution enshrined "White Supremacy by Law" and consolidated and centralized power at the Capitol and away from local county and town governments. In 1961 Governor John Patterson flew a seven-starred version of the former "Stars and Bars" over

4284-508: The Confederacy in February 1861, the building served as its first capitol until May 22, 1861. A commemorative brass marker in the shape of a six-pointed star is set into the marble floor of the front portico at the precise location where Jefferson Davis stood on February 18, 1861, to take his oath of office as the only President of the Confederate States of America . In 1901, delegates met at

4410-533: The DCVL. In mid-June, Bernard was beaten and almost killed by Klansmen determined to prevent blacks from voting. When the Lafayettes returned to college in the fall, SNCC organizers Prathia Hall and Worth Long carried on the work despite arrests, beatings, and death threats. When 32 black school teachers applied at the county courthouse to register as voters, they were immediately fired by the all-white school board. After

4536-885: The Dallas County Voters League (DCVL) tried to register black citizens during the late 1950s and early 1960s. Their efforts were blocked by state and local officials, the White Citizens' Council , and the Ku Klux Klan . By the 1960s, county officials and the Citizens' Council used such tactics as restricted registration hours; economic pressure, including threatening people's jobs, firing them, evicting people from leased homes, and economic boycotts of black-owned businesses; and violence against blacks who tried to register. The Society of Saint Edmund , an order of Catholics committed to alleviating poverty and promoting civil rights, were

4662-517: The Federal Law of the Russian Federation No.54-FZ " On Meetings, Rallies, Demonstrations, Marches and Pickets ". If the assembly in public is expected to involve more than one participant, its organisers are obliged to notify executive or local self-government authorities of the upcoming event few days in advance in writing. However, legislation does not foresee an authorisation procedure, hence

4788-494: The Governor of Alabama, to declare that we must have our freedom now. We must have the right to vote; we must have equal protection of the law and an end to police brutality. These steps remain as they were in 1965, although repairs were made during the 1992 renovation of the building. The steps have continued to be the rallying point for civil demonstrations over the succeeding years. Memorial Selma to Montgomery marches have ended at

4914-520: The Human Rights Law Centre in 2024 states that based on British common law, " Australian courts regard [the right to assembly] as a core part of a democratic system of government. " However, there are a number of limitations placed on demonstrations and protest under state, territory and federal legislation, with forty-nine laws introduced regarding them since 2004. Freedom of assembly in Brazil

5040-493: The Klan there was so intense from previous violence and murders that blacks would not support a nonviolent campaign in great number, even after Dr. King made a personal appearance on March 1. Overall more than 3,000 people were arrested in protests between January 1 and February 7, but blacks achieved fewer than 100 new registered voters. In addition, hundreds of people were injured or blacklisted by employers due to their participation in

5166-764: The North and West also mounted protests. Solidarity pickets began circling in front of the White House late into the night. After the assault on Dr. King by the white supremacist in January, black nationalist leader Malcolm X had sent an open telegram to George Lincoln Rockwell , stating: "if your present racist agitation against our people there in Alabama causes physical harm ... you and your KKK friends will be met with maximum physical retaliation from those of us who ... believe in asserting our right to self-defense by any means necessary ." Fay Bellamy and Silas Norman attended

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5292-639: The Oval Office visit, King reported that Johnson planned to deliver his message "very soon". Throughout that February, King, SCLC staff, and members of Congress met for strategy sessions at the Selma, Alabama home of Richie Jean Jackson . In addition to actions in Selma, marches and other protests in support of voting rights were held in neighboring Perry , Wilcox , Marengo , Greene , and Hale counties. Attempts were made to organize in Lowndes County , but fear of

5418-544: The Selma voting rights movement for SCLC, called for a march from Selma to Montgomery to talk to Governor George Wallace directly about Jackson's death, and to ask him if he had ordered the State Troopers to turn off the lights and attack the marchers. Bevel strategized that this would focus the anger and pain of the people of Marion and Selma toward a nonviolent goal, as many were so outraged they wanted to retaliate with violence. The marchers also hoped to bring attention to

5544-506: The State Capitol for almost 30 more years. Several African American legislators and members of the state chapter of the NAACP were arrested in 1988 after attempting to remove the flag. In 1991 the flag was removed during renovations to the dome, and its return was barred by a 1993 state court decision. It ruled that an 1895 state statute allows only the national and state flags to be flown over

5670-463: The U.S. states , with a native stone from each state, engraved with its name, set at the base of each flagpole. The flagpoles are arranged in a semi-circle between the Ionic portico of the capitol building's south wing and Washington Avenue. It was completed during the term of Governor Albert Brewer , being officially dedicated on April 6, 1968. The areas that are open for tourists are the entry stairhall,

5796-462: The Voting Rights Act of 1965. He enacted it on August 6, removing obstacles for Blacks to register en masse. The march route is memorialized and designated as the Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail . At the turn of the 20th century, the Alabama state legislature passed a new constitution that effectively disenfranchised most blacks and many poor whites by requirements for payment of

5922-415: The White House announced that it would urge Congress to enact a voting rights bill during the current session and that the vice-president and Attorney General Nicholas Katzenbach would meet with King in the following week. On February 9, King met with Attorney General Katzenbach, Vice President Hubert Humphrey, and White House aides before having a brief, seven-minute session with President Johnson. Following

6048-552: The Wilby Theatre or the Selmont Drive-in theater and eat at the 25¢ hamburger stand were both beaten and arrested. On July 6, 1964, one of the two registration days that month, John Lewis led 50 black citizens to the courthouse, but County Sheriff Jim Clark arrested them all instead of allowing them to apply to vote. On July 9, 1964, Judge James Hare issued an injunction forbidding any gathering of three or more people under

6174-543: The aim of opposing the demonstrators and presenting their view. Clashes between demonstrators and counter-demonstrators may turn violent. Government-organized demonstrations are demonstrations which are organized by a government. The Islamic Republic of Iran , the People's Republic of China , Republic of Cuba , the Soviet Union and Argentina , among other nations, have had government-organized demonstrations. Sometimes

6300-588: The authorities have no right to prohibit an assembly or change its place unless it threatens the security of participants or is planned to take place near hazardous facilities, important railways , viaducts , pipelines , high voltage electric power lines , prisons , courts , presidential residences or in the border control zone. The right to gather can also be restricted in close proximity of cultural and historical monuments. Public demonstrations in Singapore are not common, in part because cause-related events require

6426-495: The base of the steps: We are not about to turn around. We are on the move now. Yes, we are on the move and no wave of racism can stop us. The delegation was later let through into the capitol, but were told that Wallace's office was closed for the day. The delegation later left, without having been able to give their petition to anyone. It read: We have come not only five days and fifty miles but we have come from three centuries of suffering and hardship. We have come to you,

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6552-496: The campaign and register en masse. When they refused Sheriff Clark's orders to disperse at the courthouse, an ugly scene commenced. Clark's posse beat the teachers away from the door, but they rushed back only to be beaten again. The teachers retreated after three attempts, and marched to a mass meeting where they were celebrated as heroes by the black community. On January 25, U.S. District Judge Daniel Thomas issued rules requiring that at least 100 people must be permitted to wait at

6678-454: The campaign. DCLV activists became increasingly wary of SCLC's protests, preferring to wait and see if Judge Thomas' ruling of February 4 would make a long-term difference. SCLC was less concerned with Dallas County's immediate registration figures, and primarily focused on creating a public crisis that would make a voting rights bill the White House's number one priority. James Bevel and C. T. Vivian both led dramatic nonviolent confrontations at

6804-561: The capital to Tuscaloosa in 1826, where it was housed in a new three-story building. The 1826 State House in Tuscaloosa was later used as Alabama Central Female College. After it burned in 1923, the ruins were retained within Capitol Park. Finally, in 1846, the capital was moved again, when Montgomery was designated. The first capitol building in Montgomery, located where the current building stands, burned after two years. The current building

6930-557: The capitol building was originally designed by the firm of Frederick Law Olmsted in 1889. The grounds of Capitol Hill were surrounded by a cast iron fence from the 19th century into the first decades of the 20th. It was later removed and reused to enclose the Old Augusta Cemetery on Wares Ferry Road. The grounds still contain many trees and scrubs from the Olmsted design, in addition to numerous monuments. Other major features of

7056-440: The capitol building, the clock appears as a square white box with black dials and crowned with a gabled roof. The dials are 10 feet (3.0 m) in diameter with 4-foot (1.2 m) minute hands and a 3-foot (0.91 m) hour hands. It has been criticized as architecturally inappropriate on various occasions since its initial installation. With the secession of Alabama and six other Deep South states and subsequent formation of

7182-556: The capitol building. The building served as home to the Alabama Legislature until 1985, when it moved to the new Alabama State House . Officially, this move was temporary, since the Alabama Constitution requires that the Legislature meet in the capitol. In 1984, a constitutional amendment was passed that allowed the Legislature to move to another building if the capitol were to be renovated. The renovation started in 1985 and

7308-532: The capitol did not have desks in the House chamber, and those in the Senate chamber were 1861 replicas. Neither chamber has a computerized voting system. The capitol building's heating and air conditioning is supplied from the State House. Because the electricity had been turned off in the State House due to the flooding, there was no air conditioning in the capitol. The original core of the 1850-1851 building, as well as

7434-470: The capitol for several days in celebration of the centennial of the American Civil War . His successor, the 45th Governor George C. Wallace (1919-1998, served three non-consecutive terms: 1963-1967, 1971-1979, 1983-1987), attracted national attention, by raising the rebel Confederate Battle Flag of 1863 over the Capitol dome on April 25, 1963, as a symbol of defiance to the federal government; this

7560-433: The capitol steps in 1861, and, finally, prosperity following the development of resources from 1874 to 1930. Both legislative chambers date to the original 1851 construction. Both of them are rectangular in shape and extend upward through the third floor, with a mezzanine gallery on that level. The galleries in both chambers are supported by Corinthian columns. Those in the old Senate Chamber are gilded , while those in

7686-473: The capitol steps on February 20, 2011, to heighten awareness of the lack of hate crime legislation to protect LGBT people in the state. Hundreds of protesters converged at the steps on December 17, 2011, to protest the passage of Alabama's strict new immigration law, Alabama HB 56 . The Avenue of Flags is another major feature of the Alabama State Capitol grounds. It is a grouping of the flags of

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7812-427: The circumstances. Sometimes riot police or other forms of law enforcement become involved. In some cases, this may be in order to try to prevent the protest from taking place at all. In other cases, it may be to prevent clashes between rival groups, or to prevent a demonstration from spreading and turning into a riot . The term has been in use since the mid-19th century, as was the term " monster meeting ", which

7938-458: The city limits, Clark and his volunteer posse were in complete control in the county. The Selma Voting Rights Campaign officially started on January 2, 1965, when King addressed a mass meeting in Brown Chapel A.M.E. Church in defiance of the anti-meeting injunction. The date had been chosen because Sheriff Clark was out of town, and Chief Baker had stated he would not enforce the injunction. Over

8064-626: The city's 30-man police force. Baker believed that the most effective method of undermining civil rights protests was to de-escalate them and deny them publicity, as Police Chief Laurie Pritchett had done against the Albany Movement in Georgia. He earned what was described as a grudging respect from activists. The hardline of segregation was represented by Dallas County Sheriff Jim Clark , who used violence and repression to maintain Jim Crow. He commanded

8190-461: The continued violations of their Constitutional rights by marching to Montgomery. Dr. King agreed with Bevel's plan of the march, which they both intended to symbolize a march for full voting rights. They were to ask Governor Wallace to protect black registrants. SNCC had severe reservations about the march, especially when they heard that King would not be present. They permitted John Lewis to participate, and SNCC provided logistical support, such as

8316-498: The county courthouse. Their cases were handled by the NAACP Legal Defense Fund . On January 20, President Johnson gave his inaugural address but did not mention voting rights. Up to this point, the overwhelming majority of registrants and marchers were sharecroppers, blue-collar workers, and students. On January 22, Frederick Reese , a black schoolteacher who was also DCVL President, finally convinced his colleagues to join

8442-471: The courthouse in the second week of February. Selma students organized themselves after the SCLC leaders were arrested. King told his staff on February 10 that "to get the bill passed, we need to make a dramatic appeal through Lowndes and other counties because the people of Selma are tired." By the end of the month, 300 blacks were registered in Selma, compared to 9500 whites. On February 18, 1965, C. T. Vivian led

8568-595: The courthouse to apply to register to vote, SNCC's James Forman and the DCVL mobilized more than 300 blacks from Dallas County to line up at the voter registration office in what was called a "Freedom Day". Supporting them were national figures: author James Baldwin and his brother David, and comedian Dick Gregory and his wife Lillian (she was later arrested for picketing with SNCC activists and local supporters). SNCC members who tried to bring water to African Americans waiting in line were arrested, as were those who held signs saying "Register to Vote". After waiting all day in

8694-483: The courthouse without being arrested. After Dr. King led marchers to the courthouse that morning, Jim Clark began to arrest all registrants in excess of 100, and corral the rest. Annie Lee Cooper , a fifty-three-year-old practical nurse who had been part of the Selma movement since 1963, struck Clark after he twisted her arm, and she knocked him to his knees. Four deputies seized Cooper, and photographers captured images of Clark beating her repeatedly with his club. The crowd

8820-456: The date or location chosen for the demonstration is of historical or cultural significance, such as the anniversary of some event that is relevant to the topic of the demonstration. Locations are also frequently chosen because of some relevance to the issue at hand. For example, if a demonstration is targeted at issues relating to foreign nation , the demonstration may take place at a location associated with that nation, such as an embassy of

8946-473: The desire of African-American citizens to exercise their constitutional right to vote , in defiance of segregationist repression; they were part of a broader voting rights movement underway in Selma and throughout the American South . By highlighting racial injustice, they contributed to passage that year of the Voting Rights Act , a landmark federal achievement of the civil rights movement . Since

9072-498: The end of February. On February 26, activist and deacon Jimmie Lee Jackson died after being shot several days earlier by state trooper James Bonard Fowler during a peaceful march in nearby Marion . To defuse and refocus the Black community's outrage, James Bevel , who was directing SCLC's Selma voting rights movement, called for a march of dramatic length, from Selma to the state capital of Montgomery, calling for an unhindered exercise of

9198-459: The establishment of the colonial French capital of Mobile by Pierre Le Moyne d'Iberville and Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne, Sieur de Bienville from 1702 to 1711, the surrender of William Weatherford to Andrew Jackson in 1814, pioneers settling the Alabama wilderness in 1816, the drafting of the Constitution of Alabama in 1818, wealth and leisure during the antebellum era from 1840 to 1860, the inauguration of Confederate President Jefferson Davis on

9324-594: The executive board of SCLC had not joined it. When SCLC officially accepted the invitation from the "Courageous Eight", Bevel, Nash, Orange, and others in SCLC began working in Selma in December 1964. They also worked in the surrounding counties, along with the SNCC staff who had been active there since early 1963. Since the rejection of voting status for the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party delegates by

9450-444: The following weeks, SCLC and SNCC activists expanded voter registration drives and protests in Selma and the adjacent Black Belt counties. Preparations for mass registration commenced in early January, and with King out of town fundraising, were largely under the leadership of Diane Nash . On January 15, King called President Johnson and the two agreed to begin a major push for voting rights legislation which would assist in advancing

9576-414: The front marble staircase of the Capitol, with the protests and events surrounding them directly leading to the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Architecturally, the building is Greek Revival in style with some Beaux-Arts influences. The central core of the building and the east wing to the structure's rear, is three stories built over a below-grade basement. The north and south wings are two-stories over

9702-695: The gauntlet of security checks in Whitehall and Westminster to make a point. It's a sledgehammer to crack a nut." Liberty , the civil liberties pressure group, said the measure was "excessive". One of the biggest demonstration in the UK was the people vote march, on 19 October 2019, with around 1 million demonstrators related to the Brexit . In 2021, the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom ruled that blocking roads can be

9828-602: The grounds include the marble steps leading to the front portico, the Confederate Memorial Monument and the Avenue of Flags. Statuary on the capitol grounds includes Albert Patterson (1961), depicting an assassinated attorney; Duty Called (1986) by Branko Medenica; James Marion Sims (1939) by Biancio Melarango, depicting a gynecologist who experimented on enslaved black women without anesthesia; Jefferson Davis (1940) by Frederick Cleveland Hibbard , depicting

9954-460: The group to participate. SNCC called in Fay Bellamy and Silas Norman to be full-time organizers in Selma. Selma had both moderate and hardline segregationists in its white power structure. The newly elected Mayor Joseph Smitherman was a moderate who hoped to attract Northern business investment, and he was very conscious of the city's image. Smitherman appointed veteran lawman Wilson Baker to head

10080-433: The highest degree is the participation in a mass demonstration at a time of great public exaltation. Unlike sex, which is essentially individual, it is by its nature collective… like sex it implies some physical action—marching, chanting slogans, singing—through which the merger of the individual in the mass, which is the essence of the collective experience, finds expression. There are many types of demonstrations, including

10206-709: The hot sun, only a handful of the hundreds in the line were allowed to fill out the voter application, and most of those applications were denied by white county officials. United States Justice Department lawyers and FBI agents were present and observing the scene, but took no action against local officials. On July 2, 1964, President Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 into law, prohibiting segregation of public facilities. Some Jim Crow laws and customs remained in effect in Selma and other places for some time. When activists resumed efforts to integrate Selma's eating and entertainment venues, blacks who tried to attend

10332-543: The implementation of " free speech zones ", or fenced-in areas which are often far-removed from the event which is being protested; critics of free-speech zones argue that they go against the First Amendment of the United States Constitution by their very nature, and that they lessen the impact the demonstration might otherwise have had. In many areas it is required to get permission from the government to hold

10458-650: The late 19th century, Southern state legislatures had passed and maintained a series of Jim Crow laws that had disenfranchised the millions of African Americans across the South and enforced racial segregation . The initial voter registration drive, started in 1963 by the African-American Dallas County Voters League (DCVL) and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) failed as local White officials arrested

10584-406: The media publicized worldwide a picture of her lying wounded on the bridge. The second march took place two days later but King cut it short as a federal court issued a temporary injunction against further marches. That night, an anti-civil rights group murdered civil rights activist James Reeb , a Unitarian Universalist minister from Boston. The third march, which started on March 21, was escorted by

10710-410: The memorial sculpture Lurleen Burns Wallace (1968) by F. R. Schoenfeld. Wallace was Alabama's first female governor and died while in office in 1968. From there, hallways leading to offices branch off into the north and south wings. The next major room on the ground floor is the old Supreme Court Chamber, part of the original capitol plan. Located in the east (rear) wing, it is the only portion of

10836-418: The nation in question. While fixed demonstrations may take place in pedestrian zones , larger marches usually take place on roads. It may happen with or without an official authorisation. Protest marches and demonstrations are a common nonviolent tactic. They are thus one tactic available to proponents of strategic nonviolence . However, the reasons for avoiding the use of violence may also derive, not from

10962-434: The old House of Representatives Chamber are simply painted. The old Senate Chamber is the smaller of the two legislative chambers, with a mezzanine in a circular pattern stretching around all four sides of the room, broken only above lectern platform. The old House Chamber is larger, with a curvilinear mezzanine on three walls that merges into each side wall before reaching the lectern platform wall. The Old Senate Chamber

11088-426: The old Senate Chamber to the north and the old House of Representatives Chamber to the south. The interior of the Capitol building is centered on the axial rotunda , which is topped by a large dome. The rotunda is open from the second floor and through the third floor to the top of the dome. The dome interior is decorated with eight painted murals by Roderick MacKenzie, a Scottish -born artist who relocated from

11214-500: The only whites in Selma who openly supported the voting rights campaign. SNCC staff member Don Jelinek later described this order as "the unsung heroes of the Selma March ;... who provided the only integrated Catholic church in Selma, and perhaps in the entire Deep South ". In early 1963, SNCC organizers Bernard Lafayette and Colia Liddel Lafayette arrived in Selma to begin a voter-registration project in cooperation with

11340-414: The opinions of a small or very specific group of people. Demonstrations are usually physical gatherings, but virtual or online demonstrations are certainly possible. Topics of demonstrations often deal with political , economic , and social issues. Particularly with controversial issues, sometimes groups of people opposed to the aims of a demonstration may themselves launch a counter-demonstration with

11466-455: The opposite side was completed six years later in 1912. These two matching side-wings were designed by Montgomery architect Frank Lockwood , in consultation with Charles Follen McKim of the famous architectural firm McKim, Mead & White of New York City . The symmetrical north and south side-wings with newer enlarged legislative chambers for the two houses of the Alabama Senate and

11592-616: The organizers and otherwise harassed Blacks wishing to register to vote. The passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 legally ended segregation but the situation in Selma changed little. The DCVL then invited Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and the activists of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) to amplify the efforts, and these figures drew more prominent people to Alabama. Local and regional protests began in January 1965, with 3,000 people arrested by

11718-469: The organizers of large or controversial assemblies may deploy and coordinate demonstration marshals , also called stewards. The right to demonstrate peacefully is guaranteed by international conventions, in particular by the articles 21 and 22 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights ( right of peaceful assembly and right of association ). Its implementation is monitored by

11844-409: The original remaining brick foundations and general layout of Button's previous structure, with modifications by Holt. The modifications included a taller full three-story building over a basement and a three-story front portico with prominent distinctive columns, this time without a pediment. Holt's dome was a departure from the previous capitol work also; his wood and cast iron dome was supported on

11970-438: The passage of more anti-poverty legislation. After King returned to Selma, the first big "Freedom Day" of the new campaign occurred on January 18. According to their respective strategies, Chief Baker's police were cordial toward demonstrators, but Sheriff Clark refused to let black registrants enter the county courthouse. Clark made no arrests or assaults at this time. However, in an incident that drew national attention, Dr. King

12096-457: The poverty line, most of them working as sharecroppers , farmhands, maids, janitors, and day laborers, but there were also teachers and business owners. With the literacy test administered subjectively by white registrars, even educated blacks were prevented from registering or voting. Led by the Boynton family ( Amelia , Sam, and son Bruce), Rev. L. L. Anderson, J. L. Chestnut , and Marie Foster ,

12222-582: The president of the Confederacy; John Allan Wyeth (1920s) by Gutzon Borglum ; and Joseph Lister Hill (1969) by Gualberto Rocchi, depicting a senator. These statues are protected by the Alabama Memorial Preservation Act . The principal access to the capitol building was originally via a long flight of steps leading to the front portico. These were much narrower than those in place today. They were replaced by new steps fabricated from Georgia marble in 1949. The modern steps are

12348-452: The protestors attempted to see Governor George Wallace to give him a petition that asked for an end to racial discrimination in Alabama. The governor had sent word that he would see the delegation, but they were denied entry to the capitol grounds twice and told no one would be let through. State police surrounded the capitol and prevented the marchers' delegation entry to the grounds. Martin Luther King Jr. then gave an impassioned speech at

12474-420: The rear added another 70 by 50 feet (21 m × 15 m). Each side-wing is 100 by 92 feet (30 m × 28 m). The additions started with an extension to the east / rear wing on the building's rear facade (East Front) in 1885. Then a south wing with more elaborate Beaux-Arts architecture ( Classical Revival ) styles of influences was added in 1906. A close externally identical north wing on

12600-521: The regular delegates at the 1964 Democratic National Convention in Atlantic City, major tensions between SCLC and SNCC had been brewing. SCLC ultimately remained neutral in the MFDP dispute to maintain its ties with the national Democratic coalition . Many SNCC members believed they were in an adversarial position with an American establishment which they thought had scorned grassroots democracy . SNCC's focus

12726-476: The right to vote. The first march took place on March 7, 1965, led by figures including Bevel and Amelia Boynton , but was ended by state troopers and county possemen , who charged on about 600 unarmed protesters with batons and tear gas after they crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge in the direction of Montgomery. The event became known as Bloody Sunday . Law enforcement beat Boynton unconscious, and

12852-500: The same day, SCLC and SNCC organizers took the campaign outside of Dallas County for the first time; in nearby Perry County 700 students and adults, including James Orange , were arrested. On the same day, students from Tuskegee Institute , working in cooperation with SNCC, were arrested for acts of civil disobedience in solidarity with the Selma campaign. In New York and Chicago, Friends of SNCC chapters staged sit-ins at federal buildings in support of Selma blacks, and CORE chapters in

12978-500: The same width as the portico and are edged with raised marble planters. It was here that the third Selma to Montgomery march ended on March 25, 1965, with 25,000 protesters at the foot of the capitol steps on Dexter Avenue. Prominent protesters included Martin Luther King Jr. , Ralph Abernathy , Coretta Scott King , Ralph Bunche , Roy Wilkins , Whitney Young , A. Philip Randolph , Bayard Rustin , John Lewis , James Baldwin , Harry Belafonte , and Joan Baez . A delegation from

13104-468: The scene to hide in a nearby café. Alabama State Trooper corporal James Bonard Fowler followed Jackson into the café and shot him, saying he thought the protester was trying to get his gun as they grappled. Jackson died eight days later at Selma's Good Samaritan Hospital, of an infection resulting from the gunshot wound. The death of Jimmie Lee Jackson prompted civil rights leaders to bring their cause directly to Alabama Governor George Wallace by performing

13230-399: The sponsorship of civil rights organizations or leaders. This injunction made it illegal for more than two people at a time to talk about civil rights or voter registration in Selma, suppressing public civil rights activity there for the next six months. With civil rights activity blocked by Judge Hare's injunction, Frederick Douglas Reese requested the assistance of King and the SCLC. Reese

13356-420: The state within one year of gaining their freedom. During the post-war Reconstruction Era he later was elected and served two terms in the Alabama House of Representatives , in the building that he had helped to design and build two decades before. Immediately east of the stair-hall is the ground floor of the rotunda. The ground floor of the rotunda, not physically open to the upper rotunda floors, contains

13482-406: The steps on several occasions. The most recent, in honor of what would have been King's 83rd birthday, was held on January 15, 2012. On this occasion the marchers were greeted by Governor Robert J. Bentley . The steps have seen protests by LGBT groups and immigration groups in recent years as well. The annual Vigil for Victims of Hate and Violence, sponsored by Equality Alabama , took place on

13608-539: The subsequent additions of 1885, 1906, 1912, and extensive 1985-1992 renovations project, is essentially Greek Revival architecture in style. The original 1850-18511 three-story core of the building features bays delineated by Doric pilasters and a monumental three-story hexastyle portico utilizing the Composite order. The original core of the building is 150 by 70 feet (46 m × 21 m), with an original central rear judiciary wing measuring 40 by 50 feet (12 m × 15 m). The first extension to

13734-510: The target to either let you do what you want, or be shown as unreasonable as they stop you from doing it". A study by Srdja Popovic and Sophia McClennen won the 2020 Brown Democracy Medal for its examination of 44 examples of dilemma demonstrations and the ways in which they were used to achieve goals within civil resistance campaigns. Some demonstrations and protests can turn, at least partially, into riots or mob violence against objects such as automobiles and businesses , bystanders and

13860-452: The third floor. The twin cantilevered spiral staircases are among the building's finest original architectural features. They were designed and built by architect Horace King , a former slave who was freed in 1846. Due to his renown in Alabama and surrounding states as a bridge builder, the Alabama Legislature passed a special law that exempted him from the state's manumission laws, which normally required that any freed slaves leave

13986-589: The use of its Wide Area Telephone Service (WATS) lines and the services of the Medical Committee on Human Rights, organized by SNCC during the Mississippi Summer Project of 1964. Demonstration (protest) Actions such as blockades and sit-ins may also be referred to as demonstrations. Demonstrations can be nonviolent or violent (usually referred to by participants as " militant "), or can begin as nonviolent and turn violent depending on

14112-409: The wing dating back to 1851. It is a large rectangular room, one story high, with a concave entry wall and two robust Ionic columns visually dividing the space near the center of the room. Later east wing expansions continue on eastward from this room. The second floor is accessed via the main stairhall. From there the open rotunda is accessed to the east. The rotunda leads to the east wing offices,

14238-454: Was stuccoed brick, with two full stories set over a rusticated raised basement. A two-story monumental portico with six Composite columns, topped by a broad pediment , was centered on the middle five bays of the front elevation. A central dome, 40 feet (12 m) in diameter, sat directly on a supporting ring at the main roof level behind the portico. The small dome was crowned with an elaborate Cupola lantern on top patterned after

14364-591: Was assassinated two weeks later). That February 4, President Lyndon Johnson made his first public statement in support of the Selma campaign. At midday, Judge Thomas, at the Justice Department's urging, issued an injunction that suspended Alabama's current literacy test, ordered Selma to take at least 100 applications per registration day, and guaranteed that all applications received by June 1 would be processed before July. In response to Thomas' favorable ruling, and in alarm at Malcolm X's visit, Andrew Young , who

14490-466: Was built from 1850 to 1851, with Barachias Holt as supervising architect and construction superintendent. Holt, originally from Exeter, Maine , in New England was a master craftsman / mechanic by trade. Following his work on the second Alabama State Capitol in Montgomery, he created a successful sash window , door, and window blinds manufacturing factory in Montgomery. The new building used

14616-500: Was coined initially with reference to the huge assemblies of protesters inspired by Daniel O'Connell (1775–1847) in Ireland. Demonstrations are a form of activism , usually taking the form of a public gathering of people in a rally or walking in a march . Thus, the opinion is demonstrated to be significant by gathering in a crowd associated with that opinion. Demonstrations can promote a viewpoint (either positive or negative) regarding

14742-489: Was completed in 1851, and additional wings were added over the course of the following 140 years. These changes followed population growth in the state as many slave-holding European-American settlers arrived. Large parts of the state were subsequently developed for cotton cultivation. The current capitol building temporarily served as the Confederate Capitol while Montgomery served as the first political capital of

14868-468: Was completed in 1992 by the architecture group Holmes and Holmes. When the capitol was reopened, the Governor of Alabama and numerous other state offices moved back into the building, but the legislature remained at the State House. On May 7, 2009, the legislature reconvened in the capitol building for the first time since September 20, 1985, due to flooding in the State House. This required some adapting, as

14994-418: Was inflamed and some wanted to intervene against Clark, but King ordered them back as Cooper was taken away. Although Cooper had violated nonviolent discipline, the movement rallied around her. James Bevel , speaking at a mass meeting, deplored her actions because "then [the press] don't talk about the registration." But when asked about the incident by Jet magazine, Bevel said, "Not everybody who registers

15120-611: Was knocked down and kicked by a leader of the National States Rights Party, who was quickly arrested by Chief Baker. Baker also arrested the head of the American Nazi Party , George Lincoln Rockwell , who said he'd come to Selma to "run King out of town". Over the next week, blacks persisted in their attempts to register. Sheriff Clark responded by arresting organizers, including Amelia Boynton and Hosea Williams . Eventually, 225 registrants were arrested as well at

15246-474: Was likely accomplished by subcontractors. Nimrod E. Benson and Judson Wyman were the building supervisors. The new Capitol building was first occupied by both chambers of the Alabama Legislature on October 1, 1851. The clock over the portico was installed four months later in February 1852. The clock, along with a bell, was purchased by the City of Montgomery and presented to the state in 1852. In proportion to

15372-425: Was not in charge of the Selma movement, said he would suspend demonstrations. James Bevel, however, continued to ask people to line up at the voter's registration office as they had been doing, and Dr. King called Young from jail, telling him the demonstrations would continue. They did so the next day, and more than 500 protesters were arrested. On February 5, King bailed himself and Abernathy out of jail. On February 6,

15498-478: Was on bottom-up organizing, establishing deep-rooted local power bases through community organizing . They had become distrustful of SCLC's spectacular mobilizations which were designed to appeal to the national media and Washington, DC, but which, most of SNCC believed, did not result in major improvements for the lives of African Americans on the ground. But, SNCC chairman John Lewis (also an SCLC board member), believed mass mobilizations to be invaluable, and he urged

15624-553: Was president of the DCVL, but the group declined to invite the SCLC; the invitation instead came from a group of local activists who would become known as the Courageous Eight – Ulysses S. Blackmon Sr., Amelia Boynton , Ernest Doyle, Marie Foster, James Gildersleeve, J.D. Hunter Sr., Henry Shannon Sr., and Reese. Three of SCLC's main organizers – James Bevel , Diane Nash , and James Orange – had already been working on Bevel's Alabama Voting Rights Project since late 1963. King and

15750-607: Was the date of his meeting with visiting United States Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy (1925-1968, served 1961-1963), (the younger brother of the 35th President John F. Kennedy back in the White House in Washington, D.C. ) to discuss the racial desegregation of the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa , in the ongoing national civil rights movement and social struggle since the mid- 1950s . The flag continued to be flown over

15876-586: Was the site of several events leading to the Civil War. The Alabama Secession Convention met here on January 11, 1861, and voted to withdraw from the Union . Then, the Confederate States of America was organized here via a provisional constitution on February 4, 1861, Jefferson Davis was elected as its first president on February 9, 1861, and finally the permanent Confederate constitution brought into effect on March 11, 1861. The landscape plan for Capitol Hill surrounding

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