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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, In March of 1965, a series of marches took place
3from Selma, Alabama to Montgomery, Alabama as part of the
4Voting Rights Movement that had began a few years prior;
5numerous African-American citizens made the 54-mile walk from
6Selma to the Alabama state capitol to demonstrate their desire
7to exercise their constitutional right to vote, in defiance of
8segregationist repression; and
 
9    WHEREAS, The first march took place on March 7, 1965; it
10was interrupted when the 600 marchers were attacked at the
11Edmund Pettus Bridge after leaving Selma, becoming known as
12"Bloody Sunday"; and
 
13    WHEREAS, The second march, "Turnaround Tuesday", took
14place on March 9, 1965; the march was to be "ceremonial" with
15participants halting when ordered to do so, in compliance with
16a legal injunction against marching any further; and
 
17    WHEREAS, On March 21, 1965, close to 8,000 people began the
18third march, and, on March 25, 25,000 people arrived at the
19steps of the Alabama State Capitol Building to witness Dr.
20Martin Luther King, Jr. deliver his "How Long, Not Long"
21speech; and
 

 

 

HR0264- 2 -LRB099 11397 MST 32260 r

1    WHEREAS, The marches received national and international
2coverage and had a powerful effect on Washington, D.C. and the
3rest of the country, and, on March 15, 1965, President Lyndon
4Johnson presented to Congress the bill that would become the
5Voting Rights Act; and
 
6    WHEREAS, In 1960, there were 53,336 African-American
7voters in the State of Alabama, and, 3 decades later, there
8were 537,285; in 1996, the 54-mile Selma-to-Montgomery
9National Historic Trail was established, preserved by the
10National Park Service; therefore, be it
 
11    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
12NINETY-NINTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we
13recognize the Selma to Montgomery marches that took place in
14March of 1965 and the continuing struggle to ensure voting
15rights are allowed to be exercised by all.