Students reenact Selma march across campus

Sophomore Courtney Williams marched at the front of a small Black Student Union group. IU students stared at the booming activists, moving respectfully aside. \nStorming through Briscoe Quad, past the Kelley School of Business, down Third Street and around to 10th Street and Fee Lane, the voice of BSU students echoed across campus, chanting, "My citizenship, my vote." \nMembers of the BSU re-invented the 1965 Selma-to-Montgomery civil rights march on campus Thursday afternoon. Williams, the BSU's secretary, organized the march as an extension of Black History Month.\n"This is an important event in black history," said Edwardo Rhodes, interim associate vice president of student development and diversity. "The march points toward the long struggle which has occurred in this country."\nThe actual 1965 Selma-to-Montgomery march occurred in three installments, according to the Alabama Department of Archives and History. All three marches pushed to end voting discrimination. The first and least successful attempt on March 7, 1965, is known as "Bloody Sunday." Some 600 marchers were attacked by Alabama law enforcement and sent back to Selma. Almost five months after the third and final march on March 25, 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act of 1965.\nNow, the 39th anniversary of the march has been commemorated at IU.\n"It's important to do this now, especially with the upcoming election," said Carolyn Randolph, Briscoe Quad's commUnity educator. Randolph said the march stems from other historical events like the Brown v. Board of Education case in 1954, which utilized more action-based tactics. \n"Voting rights are guaranteed to us," Randolph said. \nInstead of marching from Selma to Montgomery, students followed the entire campus A bus route.\nEach member held green, red and yellow signs, reading, "We walk till the end" and "Follow me to the polls."\n"We thought about the things the marchers probably said," said BSU member Candice Buggs about the large home-made signs. Other BSU members, including Courtney Ryan, Jennifer Thomas, Alvin Henry and Ashley Burton, carried similar signs with firm grip through campus.\nAs the march continued, faint supportive honks from passing traffic invigorated the activists. Even some last-minute BSU members hopped off the screeching A bus outside the Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center, grabbing signs and jumping in line.\nRounding the corner of Indiana Avenue, two onlookers at Starbucks deserted their refreshments to join the march. Toward the end of the nearly hour-long journey, the BSU set up camp for IUTV. \nIn an assembled line, each member took turns discussing today's voting issues on air. \n"When you don't vote, you forfeit your right to happiness," said BSU member Alvin Henry. "Not voting destroys the American dream -- African-American dream, Latin-American dream -- whatever. "\n"I would love to see this become an annual thing," said Williams, peeling off her heavy coat. She took a moment to catch her breath.\n"We're not trying to make this a showcase," Williams said. "I want the University to understand that we want to secure voting rights for everyone. That's what diversity is about."\n-- Contact staff writer Amber Kerezman at akerezma@indiana.edu.