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By Faya Toure

Bridge Crossing Jubilee

33 years ago, the Bridge Crossing Jubilee was conceived and instantly implemented.

Less than 300 attended the first Jubilee. According to reports, more than 40,000 from around the country attended the 60” Anniversary of Bloody Sunday, the Selma to Montgomery March, and the Voting Rights Act.

I served as the volunteer principal coordinator of the Jubilee for all these 33 years, except one. Due to the servant leadership of scores of others, the Jubilee has grown to be the largest annual celebration and commemoration of civil rights in American history.

This achievement is also due to the generosity of private and non-profit corporations and governmental agencies such as the City of Selma and its various departments, which contribute to the logistical safety of the thousands of participants who attend the Jubilee every year. I am sincerely grateful to all the people, organizations, and entities that supported the Jubilee this year and during the past 33 years.

I struggle to find the words to express my deep gratitude for all the persons and entities that made the 60* Anniversary of the Jubilee successful. The coordination of multiple events and venues requires an extensive amount of work, focus, and resources. I simply say thank you.

Hank and I conceived the idea of the Bridge Crossing Jubilee while I was serving as the volunteer director of the National Voting Rights Museum and Institute. The board members of the Museum, which included Amelia Boynton, Marie Foster, C.T. Vivian, and other legends of the voting rights struggle, played critical roles in the early days of initiating and promoting the vision of the Jubilee.

The Jubilee has never had full-time support staff. For the past 33 years, Dr. Margaret Hardy has served as the treasurer and thus, the financial cornerstone of the Jubilee.

Thank you, Dr. Hardy.

At the risk of excluding important volunteers and organizations that have contributed to the Jubilee’s success in the past, I am compelled to mention the names of some that played such critical roles in the 60* Anniversary.

For hosting the mass meeting on Thursday, March 6th at Tabernacle Baptist Church,

I thank Reverend Culliver and the members of that historic church. Three awesome education summits transpired on Friday, March 7”. Every participant, including the coordinators of the event, served without pay, including Dr. Robert White, Candice Pettway, and Diane Daniels. We thank you.

Scores of students participated in the Black History Bowl, which covered the history of voting rights in general, focusing on the Civil Rights Movement. Numerous volunteers coordinated and participated in the Black History Bowl including judges. We especially thank the coordinator of the Black History Bowl, Wanda Tyler, and those who assisted.

Children from around the Black Belt attended the children’s sojourn, which was covered by the media. Congresswoman Terry Sewell addressed the children after they crossed the Bridge, hosting a brilliant program in Memorial Park coordinated by Yomi Goodall. We thank you with special thanks to the teachers and principals. For the first time, the National Black Lawyers Association offered to assist in the Jubilee Mock Trial.

We thank you along with Judge John England, Kindaka Sanders, District Attorney Robert Turner Jr., and the Youth of the Foot Soldiers Park for a most historical and entertaining mock trial.

Due to the efforts of Judge Collins Pettway and Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, the parade was one of the best ever, featuring a New Orleans jazz band, Selma High School Band, and multiple floats by area organizations and participants. Being too many to name, we thank each and every organization and participant.

The contributors to the Invisible Giants event on March 7” are too numerous to name, but we thank the Selma High School students who presented the Giants. We thank the instructor and mentor, Mashika Culliver, and Tasha Dangerfield, who helped to coordinate the Invisible Giants ceremony.

Cumba Toure, who brought a delegation of women from Senegal, West Africa, also deserves our deep gratitude. Vanessa Goodwin and Leonard King, the musical directors of the play Amelia and Maria, which premiered at the Invisible Giants event, also deserve our gratitude.

Nearly 700 attended the Foot Soldiers’ Breakfast. The names of the numerous volunteers are unknown to us, but we thank Charles Mauldin and every servant who made that event a success.

We also thank Dedra Reed and the ministers who coordinated and participated in the Minister’s Roundtable. We thank Jamoka Ifetayo and all of those who assisted in the induction ceremony into the Hall of Resistance, Malcolm X whose daughter appeared on his behalf. The grandmother of Juneteenth, Ms. Opal Lee, was also inducted. We thank Attorney Malika Fortier and Lashanda Brown for conducting the Women’s Induction Ceremony. A special thanks to Joy Reed and other notables.

We thank Co-Executive Director of the Jubilee, Attorney Ainka Jackson, and the SCLC President DeMark Liggins for coordinating the logistics for the March in anticipations of thousands of participants. We thank Latia Parker and Yomi Goodall for their consultancies and dedicated service.

We thank the disability advocacy organization for helping to make the March accessible for people with disabilities. We Thank Lydia Chatman for the daylong music festival. We thank the Selma City workers who coordinated and implemented the strategy to create safe spaces for the thousands who attended the festival and the Bloody Sunday March. We thank Dr. Adia Winfrey, Coordinator of the Intergenerational Hip Hop Summit. We also thank Sam Walker, who, due to a stroke, was not with us physically but spiritually continued to guide and impact the music festival.

Every year multiple organizations like the Legal Defense Fund and the Lawyer’s Committee on Civil Rights host invaluable workshops during the Jubilee. We thank them for their contribution. We thank AKA Sorority, Dr. James Mitchell, Senator Hank Sanders, Sharon Wheeler and others for an exceptional Unity Breakfast held at the Craig Field Airport and Industrial Authority.

The Jubilee newspaper required a tremendous amount of work. We thank every contributor, including Betty Boynton, Brenda Myles, Pat Posey, Barbara McGhee, Teresa Marshall, Azali Fortier, Khadijah Ishaq, all the writers, and all those who purchased ads and, or provided content to the Jubilee newspaper.

The Jubilee did not end on Sunday March 9”. People continued to march every day until we finally reached the State Capitol steps on Friday March 14*. SCLC and the loyal marchers who marched all the way from Selma to Montgomery deserve our deepest gratitude. Marchers came from across the country, including a mother, a grandmother, and her grandson, who came because of their father’s participation over sixty years ago. We thank the AFL-CIO and related unions.

We thank leaders of SCLC, Black Voters Matter, and the unions who participated in that historic reenactment. It was more than a reenactment; it was a recommitment to continue to fight for voting rights. We thank you.

I would like to thank Shellie Fearson and Rebecca Marion (our Jubilee Board President).

I would like to thank Alexia Kennedy, CAAPD, and Malwon Johnson, with the Sigma Fraternity.

I would like to thank the Jubilee Pageant coordinator, the Jubilee Queen, and all the participants.

We thank all of our sponsors. This work would not be possible without some financial support. All our event planners are volunteers, but each event requires in-kind and financial resources to be successful. Our major sponsors were ACLU, Black Voters Matter, and POWER.

We also thank the media, including the Selma Times-Journal and the Selma Sun, who covered multiple press conferences to get the word out about the Bridge Crossing Jubilee. We also thank Channels) 8 & 12, which covered so much leading up to and around the 60* Anniversary Celebration.

We also thank Felecia Pettway, who initiated the Black Belt Cultural Village this year.

We express an abundance of gratitude for Captain Donald Shephard who orchestrated the protection of the Alabama State Troopers before, during, and after the March. His service was consistent, professional, and gratifying. We thank Selma Police Department, the Alabama State Troopers, and various city departments in Selma who provided invaluable services. We also thank the Chamber of Commerce for its role in providing information and support for the Jubilee.

On behalf of the Bridge Crossing Jubilee, our board of directors and the National Coordination Committee, we thank everyone who contributed in any way to the Jubilee.

We thank the public and everyone who attended this historical event.

Last, but not least, I thank my husband and the Chestnut, Sanders Law Firm.

Without the firm’s and my husband’s support, I would not have had the time to administer the cadre of duties associated with making the Jubilee successful. The Law Firm not only provided resources but also shouldered many of my legal responsibilities when I was consumed with the Jubilee.

Servant work is hard work. But it is not the ease of work that compels us but acting in accordance with a servant’s purpose that rewards us. For the past 33 years, I have experienced the joy but also borne the burden of serving as the principal coordinator of the Bridge Crossing Jubilee. As I announced my resignation from this position, I will continue to support the Jubilee and the Museum which birthed the Jubilee.

I’m hopeful our volunteers will continue to support the initiatives I started which include The Mass Meetings, The Ministers Round Table, The Music Festival, The Hip Hop Summit, The Invisible Giants, The Children Sojourn, The Education Summit, The Freedom Flames Awards, The Unity Breakfast, and The Mock Trial.

Faya Toure is the Principal Coordinator of The Bridge Crossing Jubilee.