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The Annual Bridge Crossing Jubilee opens with a mass meeting at Tabernacle Baptist Church on Feb. 29.The theme of the 2024 Jubilee is, “Return to the Bridge: Democracy and the Vote are at Stake.”

Members of the Bridge Crossing Jubilee and the Selma to Montgomery Foundation will be announcing additional national speakers and events for the 2024 Annual Bridge Crossing Jubilee at a press conference at 10 a.m. Tuesday at 1 Union Street. 

Former State Senator Hank Sanders, one of the Jubilee co-founders, announced the schedule on Feb. 14. He said an important part of continuing the legacy is that people get out and vote in a crucial election year, both locally and nationally.

The mass meeting, which will be held from 7 – 9 p.m. at Tabernacle Baptist, is the site of the original mass meeting in the Voting Rights Movement. It will be followed by a ministers of justice roundtable discussion from 1 – 3 p.m.

Sanders said that the Jubilee has grown tremendously since he and his wife, Rose Sanders, founded it in 1992. 

“When the Jubilee began in 1992, there were only a couple hundred people in attendance to commemorate Bloody Sunday, the Selma to Montgomery March and the Selma Voting Rights movement,” Sanders said. “Most of those were 21st Century Youth Leaders Each year, the jubilee continued to grow. Since 2000, the jubilee is the largest annual civil rights gathering and event in the United States, with tens of thousands attending every year.”

Sanders said that legendary recording group, Sly and the Family Stone is “scheduled to appear and will be receiving an award, along with other awardees and speakers to be announced over the next several days.”

Other scheduled events include a Jubilee Golf Tournament, the Martin and Coretta Scott King Unity Breakfast. 

Organizers said the schedule continues to change as the jubilee approaches. To view the current schedule, visit www.selmajubilee.com.