Baton Rouge church commemorates anniversary of ‘Bloody Sunday’

BATON ROUGE, La. (LOUISIANA FIRST NEWS)—On Sunday, a service commemorating the 60th Anniversary of the Selma to Montgomery March was held at Wesley United Methodist Church on Government Street, bringing together many people.

The service focused on the historic 1965 march in Alabama, during which people protested voter discrimination. Local leaders, including Emad Nofal, Chairman of the Islamic Center of Baton Rouge, emphasized that the service not only honors the past but also points to a better future.

“Love must be strong enough to confront injustice today. As we remember, Selma is not only part of the past, but after we build a future where we march hand in hand,” said Nofal.

Following the service, attendees marched to the Louisiana State Capitol, using the anniversary to draw attention to voting concerns in the state.

“In which these amendments were conceived were essentially in secret and what we’re saying now is that as the Selma to Montgomery march, as the that particular movement indicated, that the power is in the hands of the people. We need to remind our legislative leaders that the people are the ones that should be involved in creating especially things that we need to add to the constitution of the state,” said Reverend Dr. JC Richardson.

Richardson hopes that events like the service and march will unite the community and lead to positive change in the state.

“We’re better together and that’s the whole goal to kind of make sure that there are elements in this march that repeat the unity in the diverse city that we believe was evident at the Selma to Montgomery march,” he said.