Mr. Giraldo’s destination lies some 80 miles from Northport, Alabama [which sits just across the Black Warrior River from Tuscaloosa, Alabama]. Mr. Giraldo’s decision to ride to Selma and Montgomery, Alabama is significant in that it draws the Tour of Discovery’s attention to a part of the civil rights struggle in this country. I am touched by his decision to do so. I was a high school and college student during the ’60′s. My reading of the civil rights marches that originated in Selma brings tears to my eyes.
The Selma to Montgomery marches were three marches in 1965 that marked the political and emotional peak of the American civil rights movement. They were the culmination of the voting rights movement in Selma, Alabama, launched by Amelia Boynton and her husband. Boynton brought many prominent leaders of the American Civil Rights Movement to Selma, including James Bevel, who first called for the march; Martin Luther King, Jr.; and Hosea Williams.
The first march took place on March 7, 1965 — "Bloody Sunday" — when 600 civil rights marchers were attacked by state and local police with billy clubs and tear gas. The second march took place on March 9. Only the third march, which began on March 21 and lasted five days, made it to Montgomery, 54 miles (87 km) away.
The route is memorialized as the Selma To Montgomery Voting Rights Trail, a U.S. National Historic Trail. {the text inserted above is from Wikipedia}
