In an effort to bring attention to biased voting bills and immigration, a coalition is reenacting the 47 year old Selma to Montgomery civil rights march this week. This time around, the Rev. Al Sharpton invited Latino activist groups, including the National Coalition of La Raza, to join in protest.
Alabama was the site of extreme police brutality to the 525 civil rights demonstrators some four decades ago. Although the march was originally led by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in a time when segregation was the accepted norm, Sharpton hopes to have the same effect in this new millennium. He said he was “profoundly impacted by the diversity and magnitude” that showed up to support. The walk, which has gone on all week with participants sleeping at designated locations then continuing in the morning, is expected to end on Friday at the capitol in Montgomery. A call to repeal voter ID laws and Alabama’s HB56, a strict anti-immigration law, is also planned. Five million people will presumably be disenfranchised by these new voting laws.
How will the added element of Latinos effect the outcome of the cause?
