SELMA, Ala. (WSFA) – Thousands gathered at the foot of the Edmund Pettus Bridge to celebrate and memorialize Civil Rights leaders who marched in the Selma to Montgomery march in 1965.

The Edmund Pettus Bridge is the key site of the Selma to Montgomery march; A pivotal moment in the civil rights movement that led to the passing of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

600 people were attacked by state troopers as they walked over the bridge to fight for equal voting rights for all.

Every year, thousands visit Selma to pay homage to the foot soldiers who made a sacrifice for freedoms that would be passed down to the next generations.

“I think it’s an honor to be out here,” Kayla McCray, a Jubilee attendee, said. “I think it says that despite what happened, that we’re still strong, that we pushed through it, that we didn’t let a moment like that stop us, and black people were able to persevere, and now we celebrate a day of perseverance, basically pushing past what happened.”

For some, traveling to Selma is a tradition passed down through generations. For others, it’s their first time attending. But for everyone, it’s a tribute to the civil rights leaders of the past and a call to action for further progress.

“King said, ‘There’s some things you have to stand up for, you have to be willing to give your life for.’ My dad got on a plane, popped on his collar, hopped on a plane and came here to Selma to march alongside the minister’s march 60 years ago,” said Jubilee attendee Shauna Habel-Morgan.

Activists like Habel-Morgan believe the fight is not over. She says she follows the example of congressman John Lewis by getting into “good trouble.”

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