From left, state Reps. Justin Jones and Shaundelle Brooks of Nashville and Rep. Gabby Salinas of Memphis prepare to step off in the 60th anniversary commemoration of the 1965 Selma voting rights march known as “Bloody Sunday.” (Photo: John Partipilo/Tennessee Lookout)
SELMA, Alabama — Brenda Haywood, a former member of Nashville’s Metro Council, was 14 years old in 1965 when civil rights activists were assaulted by Alabama state troopers and police as they attempted to march from Selma to the state capital in Montgomery in an effort to call attention to a voting rights drive.
“I actually watched the march then and wanted to come: at the age of 12, I was so inspired by (Rev.) Martin Luther King and John Lewis and Jesse Jackson,” said Haywood, who also served as deputy mayor to former Nashville Mayor John Cooper.
“All those young men had such a profound legacy and they believed so much in civil rights and I was always so encouraged and educated (by them,)” Haywood said Sunday.
Haywood was one of dozens of Tennesseans — including current and former elected officials — attending the Selma Bridge Crossing Jubilee to commemorate the 1965 march over the Edmund Pettus Bridge that became known as “Bloody Sunday.”
The three-day event featured a training in nonviolent techniques by Rev. Bernard LaFayette, a graduate of Nashville’s American Baptist College and organizer of the Selma voting rights campaign, and rallies at churches that hosted voting rights events during the 1965 campaign.
Sen. Charlane Oliver, a Nashville Democrat, spoke as part of a Thursday panel discussion sponsored by the Brennan Center for Justice in Montgomery. The event was timed to coincide with the Selma march anniversary.
Joe Calhoun of Memphis was honored at the conclusion of Sunday’s march with the “Memphis Footsoldier Award.” As a high school student, Calhoun volunteered to work with King during the 1968 Memphis sanitation workers strike.
Other lawmakers and elected officials marching in Selma included state Reps. Harold Love, Shaundelle Brooks, Justin Jones, Nashville Democrats, and Rep. Gabby Salinas, a Memphis Democrat. Nashville/Davidson County Property Assessor Vivian Wilhoite, Metro Nashville Councilmember Jennifer Gamble and Nashville/Davidson County Register of Deeds Karen Johnson also participated in the event.
“Having the opportunity to come now warms my heart,” said Haywood. “I want to carry the torch to encourage future people of color.”
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