President Biden to Become Third Sitting President to Speak At the Foot of Edmund Pettus Bridge during the Jubilee and then March Across the Bridge

SELMA, AL – “We are so proud and appreciative that President Joe Biden, the 46^th President of these United States of America, is speaking at the 30^th Annual Bridge Crossing Jubilee to commemorate the 58^th Anniversary of Bloody Sunday, the Selma to Montgomery March and the passage of the1965 Voting Rights Act. It means a lot whenever a President comes to Selma for the Jubilee, but it is especially meaningful in light of the devastation wrought by the January 12^th tornado that tore a terrible path through Selma,” said former Alabama State Senator Hank Sanders, co-founder of the Selma to Montgomery March Commemoration Foundation and co-founder of the Bridge Crossing Jubilee.

Faya Rose Toure, the co-founder and Executive Director of the Bridge Crossing Jubilee said: “These are tough times in Selma. It is tough because of all the challenges Selma was already facing, which the January 12, 2023 tornado compounded and intensified. We needed President Biden to come this year more than ever, and he is coming. Many people come and cross the Bridge, but we need people to be a bridge to Selma. President Biden’s coming at this critical time tells us that he understands the need to not only cross the Bridge but also become bridges to Selma.”

Dr. James Mitchell, President of Wallace Community College Selma and co-founder and chair of the Selma to Montgomery March Foundation said: “The Bridge Crossing Jubilee is the largest annual Civil Rights and Voting Rights gathering in the country, and Biden has participated in several Jubilees, Martin & Coretta King Unity Breakfasts and Bridge Crossings. In 2013, then-Vice President Biden came to Selma’s Bridge Crossing Jubilee at our invitation and was the keynote speaker at the 2013 Annual Martin & Coretta King Unity Breakfast. He also spoke at the foot of the Edmund Pettus Bridge as Vice President and led marchers across the Bridge in 2013. 

“Biden came again in 2000 as a candidate for President of the United States on the Sunday after he overwhelmingly won the 2020 South Carolina Presidential Democratic Primary. He first spoke as President of the United States when he delivered virtual remarks at the first ever drive in Martin & Coretta King Unity Breakfast in 2021, which was also broadcast live on the internet during the heart of the pandemic. Joe Biden understands Selma’s pivotal role in democracy and the sacredness of Bloody Sunday, so it is especially meaningful that he is returning in person as President of the United States this Sunday.”

The White House publicly confirmed this morning that President Biden will travel to Selma on Sunday, March 5^th, to commemorate the 58^th Anniversary of Bloody Sunday. Specific details are to follow. With his coming this year, President Biden will be the third sitting President of the United States to speak at the foot of Edmund Pettus Bridge during the Bridge Crossing Jubilee. President Bill Clinton came in 2000 for the 35^h Anniversary of Bloody Sunday. President Barack Obama came in 2015 for the 50^th Anniversary of Bloody Sunday. And now President Biden will be here this Sunday for the 58^th Anniversary of Bloody Sunday to speak at the Bridge and lead marchers over the Bridge during the sacred and symbolic Bloody Sunday March. At the Selma to Montgomery March Foundation’s invitation, President Biden had been slated to speak at the Bridge during last year’s Commemoration of Bloody Sunday but sent Vice President Kamala Harris to speak at the Bridge after Russia invaded Ukraine.