Affectionately called “The Jubilee”, it was founded in Selma, Alabama as a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization. Our commitment is to the commemoration and preservation of the spirit of the struggle for the right to vote in this country and the world. Our goal is to inspire people of all ages and ethnic backgrounds to respect and appreciate the power of their vote.
MISSION
HISTORY
This annual event in Selma, Alabama, commemorates "Bloody Sunday," which occurred March 7, 1965 when a group of about 525 African-American demonstrators gathered at Brown Chapel A.M.E. Church to demand the right to vote. They walked six blocks to Broad Street and across the Edmund Pettus Bridge, where they were met by more than 50 state troopers and a few dozen possemen on horseback. When the demonstrators refused to turn back, they were brutally beaten. At least 17 were hospitalized, and 40 others received treatment for injuries and the effects of tear gas. The attack, which was broadcast on national television, caught the attention of millions of Americans and became a symbol of the brutal racism of the South. Two weeks later, the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. and 3,200 civil rights protesters marched the 49 miles from Selma to the state capital, Montgomery — an event that prompted Congress to pass the Voting Rights Act. Every year on the first weekend in March, the Bridge Crossing Jubilee commemorates both the bloody confrontation at the Pettus Bridge and the march from Selma to Montgomery that followed. Events include a parade, a Miss Jubilee Pageant, a mock trial, and a commemorative march to the bridge. Every five years, celebrants continue all the way to Montgomery.
WHY WE RETURN
Every year the Bridge Crossing Jubilee, Inc., hosts the commemoration of this historic event and the struggle for the right to vote by gathering at the foot of the Edmund Pettus Bridge in a festival of music, art and historical remembrance.
Several years ago, this yearly event was dubbed “The Annual Pilgrimage to Selma.” Tens of thousands of freedom-loving people flock to Selma the first weekend of every March to hear personal stories from surviving freedom fighters from the movement and walk hand-in-hand with history makers who were willing to lay down their lives for the right to have a voice in the country they helped to build. For over a decade the heroes of the movement and a host of other civic, political and national leaders have made the annual pilgrimage to Selma, AL to join us in this event.
For over a decade The Bridge Crossing Jubilee, Inc. has attracted noted individuals from all walks of life. Past attendees have included:
Ethel and Max Kennedy
Ron Daniels
Geronimo Ji Jagga Pratt
Johnny Cochran
Judge Joe Brown
Judge Greg Mathis
Chris Tucker
Drew Barrymore
Gloria Steinem
Stephen King
Senator Bill Fritz
Jack Kemp
Roy Jones
Richard Gephardt
Tony Bennett
Outkast
Tyrese Gibson
Master P
Susan Taylor
Terrence Howard
Al Sharpton
Gloria Steinem
Roy Jones
Sonia Sanchez
Xernona Clayton
Shirley Franklin
Winnie Madikizela-Mandela
Louis Gossett, Jr.
Marian Wright Edelman
Danny Glover
Congresswoman Sheila Jackson-Lee
Congresswoman Maxine Waters
Congressional Representatives
Rosa Parks
Mrs. Coretta Scott King
Former President Barack Obama
Congressman John Lewis
Former President Bill Clinton
Former President George W. Bush
Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton
Sean Penn
Rev. Jesse Jackson
Bernard Lafayette, Jr.
Andrew Young