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All Roads Lead To the South: Nat’l Day Of Action For Voting Rights | LIVE From Selma | 05-16-26
May 17, 2026
All Roads Lead To the South: Nat’l Day Of Action For Voting Rights | LIVE From Selma presented by #RolandMartinUnfiltered #BlackStarNetwork
Faith leaders gather in Selma, AL ahead of the All Roads Lead To the South: Nat’l Day Of Action For Voting Rights mass rally in Montgomery
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0:00
Yes, he is. Yes, he is. Yes, he is. Yes,
0:01
he is. Yes, he is. Yes, he is. Yes, he
0:01
is. Yes, he is. Yes, he is. Yes, he is.
0:02
Yes, he
0:03
Yes, he is.
0:05
Yes, he is.
0:11
Thank the Lord.
0:13
Yes, he is.
0:18
We can't tell him nothing. See,
0:21
he was quiet though.
0:24
We ain't got to get loud. We going to
0:25
get the deal. We stepped on his head.
0:26
Sometimes they had the phone back What
0:28
y'all doing? What y'all doing?
0:31
Ooh, yes.
0:33
I can't get it. Oh, hum Amazing Grace.
0:35
Yeah. Yeah.
0:37
We going to hum Amazing Grace, y'all.
0:38
Okay, that works.
1:23
So, Go ahead and start singing if you
1:25
got that.
1:26
Start singing now. You can be loud.
1:31
So, what song are you singing? I was
1:32
singing that pretty thing. And then
1:33
y'all changed Yeah, we can sing it. Sing
1:35
it.
1:36
Sing it. I've been waiting. I was
1:37
respectful. I was organized. So, I had
1:40
No more in the night.
1:43
Oh,
1:45
oh, freedom.
1:48
I woke up this morning with my mind
1:52
stayed
1:54
on freedom.
1:57
I woke up morning with my mind
2:01
stayed
2:03
on
2:04
freedom.
2:06
Hallelujah.
2:08
Hallelujah.
2:14
I woke up this morning with my mind
2:19
stayed
2:21
on freedom.
2:23
I woke up this morning with my mind
2:27
stayed
2:29
on freedom.
2:31
I said I woke up this morning with my
2:34
mind
2:36
stayed
2:37
on freedom.
2:40
Hallelujah.
2:42
Hallelujah.
2:52
All right, we are here in Selma, walking
2:55
across, just finishing our way across
2:56
the Edmund Pettus Bridge. This is part
2:58
of
2:58
a weekend activation. All roads lead to
3:01
the South.
3:02
You were with us earlier Excuse me. when
3:04
we were inside
3:06
uh the Tabernacle Tabernacle Baptist
3:08
Church,
3:09
uh which was one of the key organizing
3:10
spaces uh here in Selma.
3:12
Now we are with a group of
3:14
activists, organizers, uh and folks who
3:17
come out as part of a massive
3:19
mobilization in response uh to the
3:22
nationwide attacks on voting rights and
3:24
black voters.
3:25
As we know, the Supreme Court ruled in
3:28
uh the Shelby decision
3:30
uh to allow a rollback of Section 2 of
3:32
the Voting Rights Act. And in the weeks
3:34
since that,
3:35
we have seen
3:36
attacks on voting rights and via
3:37
redistricting in states like Alabama,
3:40
Louisiana, Virginia, Georgia,
3:43
Mississippi, all of which will
3:45
potentially result in the smallest
3:48
amount of black representation in
3:50
Congress since the Voting Rights Act.
6:59
>> Go to white.
7:40
Go to white.
7:42
But it's only like a little 5 5 minutes
7:43
I hear it.
8:13
>> [music]
8:23
[music]
8:28
[music]
9:37
>> You got to health care, we have quality
9:39
education,
9:40
we have power and pleasure,
9:43
we have climate control,
9:44
we have backing and support, we have
9:46
civil rights,
9:48
JUSTICE, EQUALITY,
9:50
AND DEMOCRACY.
10:43
>> [music]
11:33
>> What's happening?
12:39
>> No.
12:42
My Savior
12:47
has
12:49
come.
12:50
YES. YES. MY
12:54
SAVIOR YES.
12:56
HAS
12:59
come
13:01
to
13:03
Yes, Lord.
13:04
to me.
13:05
Yes, Lord.
13:08
Amen.
13:09
Yes, Lord. Amen. Amen. Amen.
13:12
Amen. 1965 was right here.
13:15
I'm looking right at Reverend Kelly.
13:18
That's Reverend Reverend C. Meggett and
13:19
Kelly.
13:21
In 1965, when I saw him this way, they
13:24
stopped him.
13:25
They said that Dr. King knelt
13:29
John Lewis and all of them stopped. They
13:31
knelt up under this sun.
13:33
And they knelt and they prayed all of
13:36
our ancestors.
13:38
And all of all those that fought before
13:40
us,
13:41
we pray.
13:43
Lord, dear heavenly father,
13:45
we come before you right now
13:47
thanking you for bringing us together at
13:49
such a time as this.
13:51
And we know that in a crisis,
13:54
you bring your Christ mind
13:57
for us to seek you.
13:59
You said that if we come before
14:03
and put away our wickedness,
14:06
pray, seek your face,
14:10
that you will heal the land.
14:12
That you will hear us in heaven.
14:14
And we come, you said when TWO OR THREE
14:16
GATHER together that you'll be in the
14:18
midst.
14:19
More than two or three here, Lord.
14:21
YOU SAID WHEN TWO IS IN TOUCHING THAT
14:23
YOU WILL GIVE US WHATEVER WE ASK FOR.
14:25
IT'S MORE THAN TWO TOUCHING HERE, LORD.
14:28
YOU SAID THAT YOU
14:30
WOULD HONOR THE people
14:32
when they come together, nothing can
14:34
stop you.
14:35
And we have come together.
14:38
We separated before because of our
14:40
different languages.
14:42
AND WE MAY NOT ALL HAVE COME
14:44
on the same boat, but we're in the same
14:47
ship now.
14:49
And Lord, WE'RE DEALING WITH SOME
14:50
OPPRESSION, WE'RE DEALING WITH SOME
14:52
TYRANNY, WE'RE DEALING WITH SOME STUFF
14:55
THAT ONLY YOU CAN FIX AND GIVE US THE
14:58
POWER, THE ANOINTING, AND THE SPIRIT TO
15:00
DO SO. SO, WE SEEK YOU NOW. WE'RE
15:03
KNOCKING RIGHT NOW. WE ARE ASKING, DEAR
15:06
LORD, FOR YOU TO COME DOWN AND RAIN DOWN
15:09
ON US.
15:13
RAIN ON US.
15:15
IN THE NAME OF JESUS.
15:17
AMEN.
15:21
SO, hold on. I got instructions. I got
15:22
instructions that I got to give out. on.
15:24
I got instructions. I got instructions I
15:25
got to give out.
15:27
Perfect.
15:29
I got instructions.
15:31
This is the exact stop our ancestors did
15:35
during
15:36
the Selma Jubilee march,
15:39
Jubilee bridge crossing,
15:41
Bloody Sunday.
15:42
We are headed to where they was beaten,
15:45
blooded, dog bit, and water hosed.
15:48
At this time, let's take our silence
15:52
seriously.
15:54
In the celebration of Malcolm X this
15:56
weekend, May 19th is Georgia elections
15:59
on the day of Malcolm X birthday.
16:02
These are our spiritual warfare and
16:04
spiritual times.
16:06
Selma lost four of their foot soldiers
16:08
this year.
16:10
So, let's do this for them.
16:12
Ashay.
16:14
Ashay.
16:15
Ashay, y'all.
16:17
Don't forget Alabama the 19th.
16:19
Alabama, the 19th.
16:22
Oh.
16:24
And do it again on August 11th.
16:27
Amen.
16:38
Forward.
16:40
Silence. Complete silence.
16:42
And walk. Right,
16:45
left.
17:03
Front line, right fist up.
17:19
We when so all of the photographers need
17:21
to back up. I'm a
17:23
I'm a giant.
17:25
I'm a giant, y'all. Please, you have to
17:27
be next to me. I'm a little giant, man.
18:08
Hey, y'all, can you back up to be next
18:10
to me, please?
18:11
Doctors,
18:12
back up just a little bit.
18:15
Give her some space.
18:26
Stop, stop, stop, stop.
18:28
Waiting on the truck.
18:34
Wait till that truck get in that third
18:35
lane.
18:38
And forward.
18:44
Sorry, y'all. I was in the military for
18:45
a
18:48
Airborne. Airborne, sir. At least you
18:50
tell us you're 20. Airborne.
18:53
I can't give my best to no plane.
18:55
>> [laughter]
18:55
>> I give you $20. $20.
18:58
So, you're putting that here for $20.
19:01
Yeah, yeah, there you go.
19:06
Yes, I'm going to share
19:08
I wanted to know what it is cuz my dad
19:09
made the money.
19:12
>> Oh.
19:19
That's good.
19:41
Time to get live. It's time to
19:42
represent.
19:59
So it's all drive, right?
20:07
Yeah.
20:20
Yeah, I'll
20:23
Back. Pause. Pause. Pause. Or you want
20:25
to further down? Same thing. Yeah. Oh.
20:28
Sorry. A little further. A little
20:29
further. We can make it a little
20:30
further. A little closer. We want to see
20:32
everybody.
20:34
We just want to see everybody. That's
20:35
all. A little A little closer. Tell me
20:37
when.
20:41
All right.
20:42
That's That's fine.
20:45
Switch mics.
21:49
>> dignity of justice
21:51
and because of their sacrifice,
21:54
generations after them have had a voice.
21:57
But today is more than just remembrance.
21:59
It is recommitment.
22:01
A reminder that the fight for voting
22:04
rights and equality is still important
22:06
right now.
22:08
So, as we continue on to Montgomery, let
22:11
us carry the spirit of those who came
22:13
before us, determined, united, and
22:17
hopeful.
22:18
Because Selma is not just history.
22:21
Selma is still a movement.
22:24
Thank you. God bless you, and may God
22:26
continue to bless the city of Selma.
22:28
Thank you.
22:34
We'll hear from our our foot soldiers.
22:41
Foot soldier.
22:46
My name is Charles Morgan.
22:51
My grandpa my great grandfather
22:53
registered vote in 1885.
22:59
Reconstruction ended 2 years later. It's
23:02
very likely they never had a chance to
23:04
vote again.
23:06
It was 90 years later that the next
23:08
Malden voted. Ardis Malden, my mother,
23:12
voted as a result of my participating on
23:15
Bloody Sunday,
23:17
my march across the bridge on Turn
23:18
Around Tuesday, and my being a marshal
23:22
on the 54-mile march from Selma to
23:24
Montgomery.
23:26
That changed my mother's mind. They were
23:28
good black folks who didn't want to get
23:30
into bad trouble. Uh but when once their
23:33
child was beat on this bridge, right
23:36
down the street from here, they said no
23:38
more.
23:39
And they were began to be the first
23:42
people to register to vote. As a matter
23:43
of fact, my mother and my father were
23:45
the first and second persons to register
23:48
to vote in Dallas County.
23:50
And according to OBJ, the president at
23:53
the time, and it's I have a letter
23:55
verifying this, they were considered,
23:58
and I don't know if this is factual or
24:00
not, to be the first people to register
24:02
to vote as a result of the passage of
24:04
1965 Voting Rights Act.
24:10
I want
24:14
I I
24:20
Take it off.
24:33
I plan to be very brief.
24:36
But you know what?
24:40
We know
24:42
we are confronted with the conclusion of
24:45
the
24:46
Louisiana
24:47
position.
24:49
We know where we're at now.
24:51
And we have just one choice. And I'd
24:53
like for you to repeat this after me.
24:57
The poet laureate of Georgia,
25:00
Mr. Stewart,
25:03
um
25:04
has a statement that he makes that he
25:05
concludes every session he has with us.
25:08
And he says, and I want you to repeat
25:10
that to me, it's our turn. It's our
25:13
turn.
25:14
It's our turn. It's our turn. If we
25:16
don't do our part, If we don't do our
25:18
part, it's it's our fault. It's our
25:21
fault.
25:21
It's our turn. It's our turn.
25:23
It's our turn. It's our turn. IF WE
25:25
DON'T DO our part, If we don't do our
25:27
part,
25:28
it's our fault. It's our fault.
25:30
If I don't If it's my turn, If it's my
25:33
turn, it's my fault. It's my fault.
25:36
It's my turn. It's my turn. It's my
25:39
turn.
25:40
It's my turn. It's my turn. If I don't
25:42
do my part, If I don't do my part,
25:45
it's my fault. It's my fault.
25:50
Excuse me.
25:51
We have one more set of foot soldiers,
25:54
and then we'll hear from Latasha Brown
25:56
and Melanie Campbell.
26:14
Did you want to say anything else?
26:16
Yeah, um
26:19
Yeah, that's it.
26:27
Uh yes, my name is uh Annie Pearl Avery,
26:30
and I'm from Birmingham, Alabama, and I
26:33
got involved in 1961 when the Freedom
26:36
Riders came
26:37
to Birmingham.
26:39
Uh I had heard about them when I heard
27:00
>> The white head sitting him down to greet
27:02
the freedom riders.
27:03
And he started talking to me and I was
27:05
going to tell him about non-violence. I
27:07
asked him what what does it mean cuz I
27:09
looked for it in the dictionary. I had a
27:11
dictionary and what does it mean? And I
27:12
told him the dictionary
27:14
So, the word wasn't in the dictionary.
27:17
And
27:18
I told him to explain it to me.
27:21
And he said, "Well, that's when somebody
27:23
hits you that you can't hit them back."
27:25
And I said, "I don't think I'm going to
27:26
do that."
27:27
So, I got a refund for my ticket.
27:31
I got a refund for my ticket and then
27:42
coordinated meeting meeting in Atlanta.
27:44
And I thought over there
27:46
uh four stones. Number one, I was going
27:48
to learn more about the civil rights
27:51
Number two, I had never been here in
27:53
Atlanta before. And number three, I was
27:55
going to get to go free.
27:57
And I
27:59
left I had a knife. I left my knife at
28:01
home and everything is history after
28:03
that.
28:04
I was in Danville, Virginia. I was in
28:05
Albany, Georgia. I was in Atlanta. I was
28:08
in Tennessee. I was in North Carolina,
28:11
South Carolina,
28:12
Mississippi. I came in here from
28:14
Mississippi just before the uh
28:18
just before Jimmie Lee Jackson was
28:19
murdered.
28:21
Uh I was down in Hale County so I didn't
28:23
get to know people here in Selma.
28:26
Uh but I was the only person arrested
28:28
that day
28:29
uh
28:30
a Bloody Sunday. The police and I was
28:32
having a physical disagreement.
28:35
I kind of backslid on my on my
28:37
non-violence.
28:40
I wasn't winning though. I was losing.
28:42
>> [laughter]
28:44
>> God bless you. But uh anyway, I'm still
28:47
fighting. That's right.
28:48
>> I'm 82 years old now. Come on. Fire it
28:50
up.
28:51
I was wrong about Marvin about 3 or 4
28:54
years ago. That's right. I'm still
28:55
working. I'm ready now. Ready now. Yes.
28:59
Yes, I'm ready to go. READY TO
29:04
READY TO GO.
29:05
FIRE IT UP.
29:06
READY TO GO.
29:07
FIRE [screaming] IT UP.
29:08
READY TO
29:09
FIRE IT UP.
29:10
READY TO
29:11
FIRE IT UP.
29:12
READY TO GO. THE THING IS WE NEED TO
29:14
TALK to straight up. Number one, we need
29:16
to get everybody registered that we
29:19
know.
29:19
>> Yes. Yes. Yes. The the other thing is
29:23
uh
29:24
while you're doing that, you need
29:26
to kind of point out to them actually
29:28
question them about what affected them
29:30
and so And trust me, out of 10 or 15
29:35
it's going to something that is going to
29:37
affect anybody. That's right. Other
29:39
thing we need to get this done before
29:41
before no matter what no matter what
29:43
opinion is
29:44
Yes, ma'am. Yes. They probably plan on
29:46
asking us for birth certificates and
29:49
everything to do
29:54
Yes, ma'am.
29:55
And the day of the days of the any
29:57
election, we need to be sure the people
29:59
get to the polls and from the polls.
30:02
That's right.
30:02
>> This ain't going to have no camera
30:04
behind. Right. You see, there's a lot of
30:06
important things that are done
30:08
Ain't no that are never even told by the
30:10
press. And I remember Wyatt T. Walker
30:12
sent me to do something, take a message.
30:15
I didn't realize how important that
30:16
message was. I won't tell you what it
30:18
was. Okay. But, it was so important.
30:21
Today, I realized how important it was.
30:24
Thinking it saved my life. It saved
30:26
somebody's life. Amen. Amen. I didn't
30:28
know. I didn't know.
30:29
>> [applause and cheering]
30:30
>> Amen. He told me to go He told me to go
30:32
to serving room in the gas the gas and
30:34
lounge and tell them somebody
30:38
the police was out there.
30:39
That's what he told me. And I did
30:41
exactly what he told me. Mhm.
30:44
right. Thank you.
30:47
THANK YOU.
30:47
>> [cheering]
30:49
>> WHERE'S KENNY GLASGOW? WHERE'S KENNY?
30:53
Kenny Glasgow?
30:54
TELL HIM AIN'T GOING TO LET NOBODY
31:00
DON'T LET THEM
31:01
TURN YOU
31:02
AROUND. DON'T LET THEM TURN
31:04
YOU AROUND. AIN'T GOING TO LET
31:06
NOBODY
31:07
TURN YOU
31:10
I'M GOING TO KEEP ON
31:11
WALKING.
31:13
KEEP ON
31:14
TALKING. MARCHING UP TO FREEDOM LAND.
31:18
SO, WE GOT
31:21
WE'RE GETTING READY TO CLOSE OUT THE
31:24
Let's get a little space to close out.
31:25
There's a couple of things. ONE, THANK
31:28
YOU
31:29
FOR COMING and walking and being in the
31:31
spirit
31:34
of this movement. All right.
31:36
And we got other foot soldiers here
31:38
where we going to ask because some of us
31:40
got to get back to Montgomery, BUT
31:42
THERE'S A BEAUTIFUL MUSEUM RIGHT HERE.
31:44
We're going to ask all of Y'ALL THE FOOT
31:46
SOLDIERS IF YOU want to go by the museum
31:48
or if you are willing to talk to folks.
31:50
They want to come and talk to you and
31:51
have interviews. We can talk to them.
31:53
OKAY. SO, THE FOOT SOLDIERS ARE GOING TO
31:55
GO IN THIS AREA. THOSE OF YOU THAT WANT
31:57
to talk and interview and get the
31:59
stories, we're going to ask you to do do
32:01
that. And they're right here.
32:04
Um well, we're many of us are going TO
32:06
HAVE TO GO ON OUR JOURNEY TO THE NEXT
32:08
PHASE of this in Montgomery and SOME OF
32:09
US WAS AN ORGANIZER, SO WE REALLY got to
32:11
go. Right? But in the spirit of this,
32:13
I'm going to ask brother KENNY GLASGOW
32:15
TO COME AND CLOSE US OUT.
32:18
Come on, brother Kenny. He's holding the
32:19
mic.
32:21
>> [laughter]
32:21
>> I'm I'm looking for Kenny. Right.
32:24
Oh, there's Kenny.
32:25
>> WE WE STARTED HERE
32:27
BECAUSE WE WANTED TO WE WANTED TO STAND
32:30
ON SACRED GROUND
32:31
>> YES. AND CONSECRATE OURSELVES. THAT THIS
32:34
MOVEMENT THAT WE'RE IN RIGHT NOW, IT
32:35
AIN'T JUST ABOUT VOTING. THERE IS EVIL
32:38
IN HIGH PLACES THAT SEEK TO HURT AND
32:41
HARM US. AND SO, YOU CANNOT FIGHT HATE
32:45
WITH HATE. YOU HAVE TO STAND IN THE
32:47
SPIRIT OF LOVE. AND SO, LOOK AROUND.
32:50
THIS IS WHAT LOVE LOOKS LIKE. AND WE
32:52
GOING TO STAND AND BE INDIGNANT AROUND
32:54
IT. THAT GOD GAVE US THE POWER OF
32:56
CHOICE. THEREFORE, THIS GOVERNMENT DOES
32:58
NOT HAVE THE RIGHT TO TAKE THAT POWER
33:00
AWAY FROM US. SO, IN THAT, Y'ALL, WE
33:03
WILL NOT WIN THIS FIGHT IF WE'RE NOT IN
33:06
A LINE WITH THE SPIRIT.
33:07
WE WILL NOT I NEED Y'ALL TO HEAR ME. I'M
33:10
NOT SAYING THIS TO GET CLAPS. I'M SAYING
33:12
THIS CUZ I NEED YOU TO HEAR ME.
33:14
WE ARE FIGHTING AGAINST EVIL.
33:17
AND IT'S GOING TO REQUIRE US TO WALK IN
33:19
RIGHTEOUSNESS. IT IS GOING TO REQUIRE US
33:22
TO BE BROTHERS AND SISTERS. IT IS GOING
33:24
TO REQUIRE US TO STAND IN A SPACE OF
33:27
LOVE. WE CAN'T BEAT HATE WITH HATE.
33:31
ONLY LOVE.
33:32
ONLY LOVE.
33:35
ONLY LOVE.
33:37
ONLY LOVE.
33:39
ONLY LOVE.
33:41
CARRY US THROUGH.
33:43
ONLY LOVE.
33:45
CARRY US THROUGH.
33:47
ONLY LOVE.
33:49
CARRY US THROUGH.
33:51
SO, WE GOING TO HAVE BROTHER GLASGOW TO
33:54
TO CLOSE US OUT, AND THEN WE GOT TO GO.
33:58
WHAT SHE SAY? ONLY LOVE.
34:01
CAN CARRY US THROUGH.
34:03
ALL RIGHT.
34:06
>> [applause and cheering]
34:06
>> AND PLEASE GO TO THE MUSEUM, and those
34:08
OF YOU THAT ARE STAYING,
34:11
they actually they need this as a
34:12
community museum, and they need support.
35:22
>> [laughter]
35:54
[laughter]
36:23
[laughter]
36:27
>> All right. Watuse here with the Black
36:28
Star Network here in Selma. We spent the
36:30
morning here just crossed the Edmund
36:33
Pettus Bridge.
36:34
Um spent time with demonstrators,
36:36
activists, protesters, and now we're
36:38
getting ready to head back to the state
36:39
capital for a massive rally part of the
36:42
All Roads Lead South organization and
36:45
mobilization in response to Supreme
36:47
Court's attempts to curb black voting
36:49
rights. We appreciate you all sticking
36:50
with us this morning and we're going to
36:52
be back live coverage 1:00 p.m. Eastern
36:54
from the state house uh covering the
36:56
ongoing mobilization here in Alabama and
36:59
in 50 more than 50 sister cities across
37:02
the country um in response to Supreme
37:04
Court effort uh to attack black voting
37:06
rights. We appreciate you sticking with
37:07
us and and we got more to come soon.
37:22
>> [music]
37:35
[music]
37:36
>> Cover it.
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