54 Miler - Selma to Montgomery Ruck - Selma, Alabama - 03/21/2025

54 MILE RUCK - SELMA TO MONTGOMERY

When asked how long it would take for justice to come to those seeking equality, Dr. King replied, “How long? Not long, because the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”

The Selma to Montgomery marches were three protests held in March 1965, along the 54-mile highway from Selma, Alabama, to the state capital of Montgomery. Today, the Selma to Montgomery National Historic Trail honors the 54-mile march of non-violent activists, led by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. In the lead up to and during these marches, peaceful protesters were met with intractable resistance and violence by whites in positions of power that resulted in the death of deacon Jimmie Lee Jackson, as well as the brutal beating of Amelia Boynton and others in an event that became known as Bloody Sunday. By highlighting racial injustice, these marches contributed to passage that year of the Voting Rights Act, a landmark federal achievement of the civil rights movement.

HOW IT WORKS

HIGH LEVEL AGENDA:

For those interested in attending the march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, retracing the steps of those fighting for voting rights in 1965, please see the agenda below. 

If you are choosing to do this event as a self-directed relay, please note that each relay members will need to register separately.

**Please note that this is a one way route; we ask that all participants plan accordingly.

FRIDAY, MARCH 21:

• 10:00AM - ORIENTATION: Meet at Brown Chapel AME Church, 410 Martin Luther King St., Selma, AL. Find a place where you can park overnight, and a ride to the chapel.
• 11:00AM - STEP OFF: Start the journey through Selma, across the Edmund Pettus Bridge, and en route to where the original marchers camped their first night (the David Hall Farm).

SATURDAY, MARCH 22: 

• 4:00PM-5:00PM - Leave the site of the final camp where marchers stayed (St. Jude Educational Institute), pass the statue of Rosa Parks commemorating the Montgomery Bus Boycott, pass the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church (the first church where Martin Luther King, Jr. served as a pastor) and to the Alabama State Capitol.