Bloody Sunday

Location

37922
United States
35° 52' 5.2968" N, 84° 5' 26.61" W

In Selma they start
Hand- in- hand
With love and warm hearts.
To be able to vote and be equal someday
This is their cry,
To Jesus they pray,
On that Bloody Sunday.

To Montgomery they go,
What will happen?
They do not know.
With hope in their hearts,
Their movement grows strong,
March on. March on.
On that Bloody Sunday.

Right foot then left,
And right again,
Hundreds march peacefully,
To put an end,
To racism and segregation that plagues the South.
With no weapons, just their feet and mouth.
On that Bloody Sunday.

They march East on Highway 80 US
Reverend Hosea Williams and John Lewis,
Lead the march for freedom and rights
With peace on their minds,
Not willing to fight.
Then they crossed Dallas County Lines,
On that Bloody Sunday.

Edmund Pettus Bridge
Forever stained with the blood,
Of those who only sought peace.
The blood of those that we love.
Freedom had never been so far out of reach
Than it was on that day.
On that Bloody Sunday.

Mahatma Ghandi taught the world that
“Anger and intolerance are the enemies of correct understanding.”
César Chávez, Nelson Mandela, Reverend Martin Luther King,
All use nonviolence as a weapon,
A weapon greater than guns, wars, and fists.
Their goal: with nonviolence
Brutal opposition they hope to miss
Just as on that day,
On that Bloody Sunday.

While the weapons the enemies use
May cut deep, may cause tears and blood to shed,
May leave a bruise,
It cannot stop a movement backed by passivity.
Unlike a clenched fist,
An open mind has the power to change the world.
To inspire the Voting Rights Act.
To elect a female president in Liberia.
To stop the Apartheid in South Africa.
And to inspire peaceful movements after us.
We cannot forget the lessons we learned,
The rights and respect that we earned,
On that Bloody Sunday.

Guide that inspired this poem: 

Comments

mbunchie

This is a very powerful poem.  May I have permission to read it at a small church gathering commemorating Bloody Sunday? 

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