Blake Moore: “I was privileged just recently to stand hand in hand and shoulder to shoulder in Selma, Alabama, with 100 Members of…”

“I was privileged just recently to stand hand in hand and shoulder to shoulder in Selma, Alabama, with 100 Members of Congress, with civil rights leaders, friends of the movement of all races from every State in the United States, with civil rights luminaries such as Mrs. Abernathy, Dorothy Cotton, Amelia Boynton--113 years old--Doris Crenshaw, and, of course, our very own colleague, John Lewis, who helped lead a march for a better life and more equality for all of America. But it was very, very hard to celebrate. There was a very sober mood in the crowd as we realized that the voting rights of Americans, particularly African Americans, were under threat 50 years after the Voting Rights Act was signed. As the President said in his remarks: Right now, in 2015, 50 years after Selma, there are laws across the country designed to make it harder for people to vote. {time} 2015 As we speak, more of such laws are being proposed. Meanwhile, the Voting Rights Act, the culmination of so much blood, so much sweat and tears, the product of so much sacrifice in the face of wanton violence, the Voting Rights Act stands weakened, its future subject to political rancor.…”