NAACP Launches America’s Journey for Justice at Edmund Pettus Bridge

Press Release From The NAACP

BALTIMORE, MD – America’s Journey for Justice will commence on August 1st at the foot of the Edmund Pettus Bridge to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act.

The march will feature rallies and teach-ins along the route, satellite events across the country, and a Justice Summer social media campaign. For more information and to join the march, click here.

The 860-mile march will culminate in a Washington, D.C. with a rally and advocacy day. Led relay style by our regional leadership, NAACP Alabama State Conference President Bernard Simelton will carry the first baton of justice for this historic march.

From Alabama, we will march through Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia until we reach the nation’s capital.

For 40 days and 40 nights, the NAACP will mobilize activists and advance a focused national advocacy agenda that protects the right of every American to a fair criminal justice system, uncorrupted and unfettered access to the ballot box, sustainable jobs with a living wage, and equitable public education. America’s Journey for Justice will unite partners from the social justice, youth activism, civil rights, democracy reform, religious, not-for-profit, labor, corporate, and environmental communities to call for justice for all Americans under the unifying theme “Our Lives, Our Votes, Our Jobs, Our Schools Matter.”

For the entire eight week March schedule, click here.   Press can register here.

WHO:

• Cornell William Brooks, NAACP President & CEO;
• Leon Russell, Vice Chairman, NAACP National Board of Directors, 
• Terri Sewell (D - AL), U.S. Representative, Alabama's 7th Congressional District;
• The Honorable George Patrick Evans, Mayor of Selma; 
• Aaron Maier, President, Sierra Club; 
• Bernard Simelton, President of NAACP Alabama State Conference;
• Rev. Lawrence Wofford, Selma NAACP Branch President;
  
• Rose and Hank Sanders, Organizers for the 50th anniversary of the Selma to Montgomery march; 
• Charles Steele, CEO of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference; additional speakers to be announced.                                                                            

WHEN/WHERE:

August 1, 2015

• 10 a.m. Blessing of the March The Boynton House 1315 Lapsley Street Selma, Alabama 36701
• 11 a.m. Rally Marchers will gather for a rally at the foot of the Edmund Pettus Bridge (Speakers to be announced)
• 12 p.m.  March begins Marchers set off on America’s Journey for Justice
• 7:00 p.m. March ends at St Jude Catholic Church, 2048 W Fairview Ave, Montgomery AL

Founded in 1909, the NAACP is the nation's oldest and largest nonpartisan civil rights organization. Its members throughout the United States and the world are the premier advocates for civil rights in their communities. You can read more about the NAACP’s work and our five “Game Changer” issue areas here