The Unfinished Agenda of the Selma-Montgomery Voting Rights March

Book excerpt: WHY A 56-MILE WALK FOR FREEDOM IN 1965 STILL CHALLENGES AMERICA TODAY THE VOTING RIGHTS ACT OF 1965 WAS THE CROWNING ACHIEVEMENT OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT, FOREVER CHANGING POLITICS IN AMERICA. NOW, FOR THE FIRST TIME, VOICES OF THE ERA, ALONG WITH SOME OF TODAY'S MOST INFLUENTIAL WRITERS, SCHOLARS, AND SOCIAL ACTIVISTS, COMMEMORATE THE STRUGGLE AND EXAMINE WHY THE BATTLE MUST STILL BE WON. "One of the difficult lessons we have learned is that you cannot depend on American institutions to function without pressure. Any real change in the status quo depends on continued creative action to sharpen the conscience of the nation."--MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. "As long as half our eligible voters exercise the right that so many in Selma marched and died for, we've got a very long bridge to cross."--BILL CLINTON "I would hope that students today can learn from Selma to acquire a better understanding of how oppressed people with limited resources can free themselves and make the world better."--CLAYBORNE CARSON, STANFORD UNIVERSITY