Press Release - Selma Bridge Crossing Jubilee Names New Principal Coordinator
The Historic 56th Annual Bridge Crossing Jubilee is scheduled to take place March 4-7, 2021.
For Immediate Release: Thursday, July 2, 2020
Selma, AL – The Selma Bridge Crossing Jubilee announced that Drew Glover has assumed the position as the Bridge Crossing Jubilee Principal Coordinator, taking over the role from Faya Rose Toure who co-founded the Jubilee with Senator Hank Sanders and others, was the unpaid coordinator of the Jubilee for the last 28 years, and led the Jubilee to be the largest annual Civil Rights Event in the nation. Glover, 34, was born and raised in Santa Cruz, CA. He has a background in nonviolence education and addressing social inequities around issues of race and systemic oppression. “It is an honor and a privilege to be following in the footsteps of the giants who have come before me and who have kept this powerful and important event strong for decades,” Glover said. “Because of them, I have this opportunity as well as the Civil Rights that I and other people of color have today.”
The Bridge Crossing Jubilee consists of 40-50 events each year, most of which are free to the public. The Jubilee commemorates the struggle for voting rights including Bloody Sunday, which occurred March 7, 1965, and led to Congress’ passing the 1965 Voting Rights Act. More than 550 voting rights strugglers gathered at Brown Chapel AME Church to protest to the murder of Jimmie Lee Jackson and to advocate nonviolently for Black Americans’ right to vote. At the Bridge, they were brutally beaten and gassed by Alabama State Troopers. The attack, which was broadcast across the nation, caught the attention of many millions of Americans and became a symbol and catalyst in the fight for voting rights and freedom in the U.S. and across the world. Two weeks later in Selma, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and 3,200 civil rights protesters marched the 50 miles from Selma to the Alabama State Capitol in Montgomery.
Each year on the first weekend in March, the Bridge Crossing Jubilee commemorates the death of Jimmie Lee Jackson, Bloody Sunday and the Selma-to-Montgomery March. Events include the Annual Mock Trial, the Jubilee Parade, the Miss Jubilee Pageant, the Freedom Flame Awards, the Reenactment of the March from Brown Chapel across the Bridge, educational seminars, and much more. In 2021, Glover plans to introduce new events and features to the Jubilee including a venture summit for young entrepreneurs, a new educational symposium on social change, a virtual portal for people around the world to be able to partake in the education summits and celebration and more. “In a moment in history when police brutality and systemic racism are prevalent across the nation, what is clear is the tremendous work that is still left to do. The Bridge Crossing Jubilee is something everyone should experience because it educates, uplifts, and reminds us of the power of people when they unite in the fight for justice,” Glover said.
The Selma Bridge Crossing Jubilee is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Rebecca Marion serves as Board Chair, and Dr. Margaret Hardy serves as Board Treasurer.
For more information, please contact: Drew Glover at drew@selmajubilee.com and (831) 325-4721.
