Hillary Clinton to attend Selma’s annual Jubilee Bridge Crossing

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[Photo Credit: AP Photo]

On Friday, March 1 through Sunday, March 3, Selma, Ala. will host the largest voting rights commemoration event in the country — the Bridge Crossing Jubilee — remembering the 54th anniversary of the Selma to Montgomery “Bloody Sunday” march, and according to event organizers a former First Lady will be in attendance.

According to the Alabama News Network, Jubilee organizers say former First Lady and U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton will be at this year’s event.

This annual event commemorates “Bloody Sunday,” when on March 7, 1965, a group of roughly 525 African American protesters planned to cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge on their civil rights march to Montgomery to demand the right to vote. At the bridge they where they were met by more than 50 state troopers and a few dozen men on horseback. When the demonstrators refused to turn back, they were brutally beaten, leaving at least 17 hospitalized, and 40 others injured.

Bloody Sunday fighting

Fighting at the Edmund Pettus Bridge on Bloody Sunday, March 7, 1965.

The violent attack, which was broadcast on national television, caught the attention of millions of Americans and was aptly dubbed “Bloody Sunday” and ultimately became a rallying point for civil rights leaders.

“This might be the last that you can come and hear the stories of the people who made this movement possible, so we’re really excited about the Jubilee. We’re encouraging people to support it. Support it with an ad, support it by buying tickets,” Jubilee Co-coordinator Faya Rose Toure told the Alabama News Network.

Those interested in the event, may purchase a ticket online.