What seems to be happening in this photo?

Setting the StageThe right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.

Amendment 15United States ConstitutionRatified February 2, 1870

In 1965, African Americans in the US had possessed the theoretical right to vote for almost 100 years

Map 1: Route of the Selma-to-Montgomery Voting Rights March .

“So far as I can learn, the term [Black Belt] was first used to designate a part of the country which was distinguished by the colour of the soil. The part of the country possessing this thick, dark, and naturally rich soil was, of course, the part of the South where the slaves were most profitable, and consequently they were taken there in the largest numbers. Later . . . the term seems to be used wholly in a political sense—that is, to designate the counties where the black people outnumber the white.3”

Montgomery and Selma were located in the Alabama Black Belt.  According to Booker T. Washington, writing in his 1901 autobiography,

The Selma to Montgomery Voting Rights March actually consisted of three marches, all of which began at Brown Chapel African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church in Selma.  The first, on March 7, 1965, “Bloody Sunday,” ended in violence on the far side of the Edmund Pettus Bridge over the Alabama River.  The second, symbolic, march took place on “Turnaround Tuesday,” March 9, and proceeded only to the site of the violence of two days earlier.  After a brief prayer, the marchers turned and returned to Selma.  Only the third march, which began on March 21, reached the Alabama State Capitol in Montgomery.

The Selma to Montgomery Voting Rights March actually consisted of three marches, all of which began at Brown Chapel African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church in Selma.  The first, on March 7, 1965, “Bloody Sunday,” ended in violence on the far side of the Edmund Pettus Bridge over the Alabama River.  The second, symbolic, march took place on “Turnaround Tuesday,” March 9, and proceeded only to the site of the violence of two days earlier.  After a brief prayer, the marchers turned and returned to Selma.  Only the third march, which began on March 21, reached the Alabama State Capitol in Montgomery.

Photo 3: View of Martin Luther King, Jr., addressing the marchers at the Alabama State Capitol in Montgomery.