LEILA FADEL, HOST:
Alabama's legislature meets today in a special session to redraw its congressional maps. This is in response to last week's Supreme Court decision that gutted the Voting Rights Act. Troy Public Radio's Kyle Gassiott went to Selma, Alabama, the site of a historic protest that propelled the passage of the Voting Rights Act.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: They froze it (ph).
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: OK.
KYLE GASSIOTT, BYLINE: In March of 1965, Black protesters crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma on their way to the state capital to protest unfair voting laws. On the bridge, they were beaten by Alabama state troopers. The day became known as Bloody Sunday. Today people from all over the world visit the bridge. Some of them buy T-shirts and books from Columbus Mitchell, who says last week's ruling was a setback.
COLUMBUS MITCHELL: And it's really sad. But we - Dr. King said, the moral arc of the universe is long, but it bends towards justice. But that means we've got to help bend it, though. It's not going to bend itself.
GASSIOTT: Otis Dionne Culliver is senior pastor of the historic Tabernacle Baptist Church. On Sunday morning, he spoke at length to his congregation about the ruling and preserving the hard-fought gains of the Civil Rights Movement.
OTIS DIONNE CULLIVER: I think this little, obscure, small place that has its own issues has the ability to confront this moment and bring more clarity again to the conscience of our nation.
GASSIOTT: In 2023, the Supreme Court ruled that Alabama's congressional maps violated Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act and diluted the power of Black residents, who number more than a quarter of the state's population. The following year, voters in a new district elected Congressman Shomari Figures, who joined Congresswoman Terri Sewell as Alabama's only two Black and Democratic representatives in the U.S. House. Now minority voting rights groups fear Figures and Sewell could both lose their seats if new maps are drawn. Kirk D. Carrington was one of the original 1965 marchers. He says voters like him across the country should be ready for a fight.
KIRK D CARRINGTON: Or it's going to be hard to go back. Matter of fact, we ain't going back. We're not going back.
GASSIOTT: Even though lawmakers are drawing new maps, there is one court order still in place that says Alabama has to wait until 2030. But lawmakers have asked the judge to overrule that order in light of the recent Supreme Court decision.
For NPR News, I'm Kyle Gassiott in Selma, Alabama.
(SOUNDBITE OF SLEEPY FISH'S "FALL'S ECHOES") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.
