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Thousands Gather in Selma to Protest Supreme Court Decision on Voting Rights Act

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REVERE, MA - JUNE 9: A demonstrator holds a sign for Botham Jean while marching during a demonstration on June 9, 2020 in Revere, MA for George Floyd and other Black Americans killed at the hands of law enforcement. The peaceful march was been planned by Black and Brown Youth, a group based in Revere, who have come together to form Black Lives Matter Revere.
REVERE, MA – JUNE 9: A demonstrator holds a sign for Botham Jean while marching during a demonstration on June 9, 2020 in Revere, MA for George Floyd and other Black Americans killed at the hands of law enforcement. The peaceful march was been planned by Black and Brown Youth, a group based in Revere, who have come together to form Black Lives Matter Revere. (Photo by Erin Clark/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)

Over 5,000 people gathered in Selma and Montgomery over the weekend, forming one of the largest voting rights demonstrations in recent years. The gathering responded to a U.S. Supreme Court decision narrowing key provisions of the Voting Rights Act. Organized under the banner “All Roads Lead to the South,” the effort brought together civil rights organizations, clergy, and voting rights advocates. Participants said the ruling is reshaping Black representation through redistricting.

The march began in Selma at Tabernacle Baptist Church before participants crossed Edmund Pettus Bridge in silence. The bridge is the site of the 1965 Bloody Sunday attack on civil rights activists. That confrontation helped galvanize support for the Voting Rights Act later that year. Organizers said the walk aimed to connect present-day concerns with that history.

The Supreme Court decision in Louisiana v. Callais narrowed Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, long used to challenge electoral maps alleged to weaken Black voting strength. The court’s conservative majority requires plaintiffs to demonstrate intentional discrimination rather than showing district lines dilute minority representation. Civil rights groups argue the standard raises the legal burden and limits challenges to maps that reduce electoral influence.

Voting Rights Battle Spreads as Redistricting Plans Advance

This has triggered new redistricting disputes across Alabama and Southern states. Alabama Republicans are moving to redraw congressional maps after the ruling, with projections showing a reduction in Black opportunity districts from two to one. Similar efforts are underway in states including Tennessee, Mississippi, Georgia, and Louisiana ahead of upcoming election cycles.

Speakers at gatherings included ministers, civil rights veterans, members of Congress, and voting rights advocates. Martin Luther King III and Arndrea Waters King attended events tied to the marches. North Carolina State Representative Rodney Pierce said, “no path open to us to protect the voting rights of Black citizens in my part of the state,” after dropping a lawsuit over state Senate districts. Organizers said they are preparing a sustained Summer of Action focused on voter mobilization across the South.