Followup & Return Trips To Selma

As you read below, please remember there are now 253 bills in 43 states to restrict voting access. Voter suppression is alive and well.....And this weekend the 56th reenactment of the march will take place virtually. Find out more at www.selmajubilee.com

Return Trips

In February of 2003 I got a phone call from a journalist friend. I'll always be grateful to her for that call. She told me that during a regularly scheduled conference call with the press, Congressman Amo Houghton who represented the Southern Tier region of NYS, had mentioned a trip he was taking with Congressman John Lewis to Selma, Alabama in March for the reenactment of the bridge crossing that had happened there many years before. Gwen mentioned to the Congressman that she knew someone in the district who had participated in the original march. Within days of that call I was contacted by Congressman Houghton's office and invited to participate in the pilgrimage back to Selma.

It turns out that the trip was much more then a trip to Selma. John Lewis and Amo Houghton had been working together for a number of years with an organization called the Faith and Politics Institute. At that time the organization was led by Doug Tanner. Lewis and Houghton were trying to work on the principle of civility in congress. They were true brothers in that effort. They were from completely different backgrounds but they had found common ground and were committed to working together. The pilgrimage had been going on for a number of years and continues to this day. During the pilgrimage, Lewis and other leaders of the civil rights movement take a large group of Senators and Congressman, along with guests to the historical landmarks of the civil rights movement - Montgomery, Birmingham and finally on Sunday to Selma and the crossing of the Edmond Pettus Bridge. But it is different than it was in 1965. On Sunday and throughout their trip they are escorted by black and white troopers and sheriffs. Throughout the trip, John Lewis told stories in only the way he can, about the experiences of black America in the 60's and before.

But let me tell you about my experience returning on that March in 2003. I drove to Washington, DC and met Congressman Houghton at the Capitol on the morning we were to leave. I got on the bus that we were taking from the Capitol to the airport and sat down with elected officials of the United States Congress along with people like Jack Kemp, former Congressman and football great from Buffalo. A police escort with sirens blaring took us through Washington and to the airport. I was mesmerized and a bit confused, out of sorts, out of body perhaps. Things didn't seem right. This was all very legal. I don't think anyone, including myself realized what a shock all of this was going to be to me. I was literally dumbfounded.

We visited all of the important places that honor the civil rights movement and its leaders and foot soldiers. Here are a few pictures of that trip. The first is of Congressman John Lewis and myself. John Lewis is a personal hero of mine. He was beaten to the ground in 1965 at the front of the march along with Rev. Hosea Williams. The second is a picture of the Mayor of Selma, James Perkins, myself and Congressman Amo Houghton at the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma.

As Amo Houghton and I walked toward the bridge in Selma, we drifted toward the back of the crowd away from the media crunch that always seems to be following the folks up front. We chatted as we walked and eventually were joined by a man to our left. It turned out to be James Perkins, Jr. the first black Mayor elected in Selma in 2000. We told our stories. Perkins was 10 when the original march took place. He could have been one of those youngsters who inspired me so many years ago with their song and spirit - fearless young leaders. He could have been my co-conspirator and partner running through the woods to the courthouse through the public housing pictured below across from Brown Chapel. As we neared the bridge, he put his hand on my shoulder, took my hand and said, "You know the only reason I'm the Mayor of this city is because of you and people like you." We hugged. It was an emotional moment for both of us.

Fast forward to 2010. That was the year I decided I was going to go back to Selma again but on my own. I was going to get in my car and make my own pilgrimage and I did. Only it wasn't on my own. I invited my older brother and oldest son, both living in New Jersey to join me. Again, these trips are emotional for me and this time we were able to see more of Selma and the poverty that is a part of the landscape today. But we also met good people both black and white who understand their history better than us. We were a bit lost one day and my son asked two bike patrol officers for some directions and information. We ended up seeing these officers over and over and suddenly came to the realization that the city was pretty small and directions pretty simple. At one of these encounters one of the young officers came over and engaged me in some conversation. He asked if I was one of the original marchers? I answered in the affirmative. He was white and his partner was black, both in their late twenties or early thirties. What he said next was another one of those emotional surprises. He apologized to me for the actions of law enforcement officers in 1965 and he meant it. He was ashamed of their actions and the way people were treated. I thanked him for his kind words.

I went back for the 50th celebration and reenactment in Selma in 2015. I shared that time with my youngest son Brian and my wife Jeannette. The tradition and experience should go on. Make the trip.