Selma Bridge Crossing Jubilee 2026 theme unveiled: 'All Boots on the Bridge'

The 2026 Selma Bridge Crossing Jubilee theme was announced at a press conference on Friday at Songs of Selma Park, along with a list of honorees and speakers.

“All boots on the bridge” is the theme for the 61st commemorative event that marks the Selma to Montgomery protest that led to passage of the Voting Rights Act.  

Organizers Hank Sanders and wife Faya Rose Toure said the theme honors the marchers of 1965 whose footsteps improved democracy, and they said the nation this year must once again show up, physically and spiritually. 

“It was boots on the bridge… that helped to bring about the 1965 Voting Rights Act,” Sanders said, urging people from across the U.S. and around the world to join the commemoration. 

The Jubilee will recognize several towering figures in civil rights history during its annual breakfast on March 8 at 7:30 a.m. Honorees include attorney Fred Gray, the legendary civil rights lawyer who represented Rosa Parks and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Sanders said “It’s important that we honor him while he is still here to be honored,” Sanders said of Gray, who is now 96. 

Also to be honored are Dr. Bernard Lafayette, a SNCC organizer who helped lead Selma’s first mass meeting in 1963 and Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison,recognized for his work in justice and civil rights. 

The Freedom Flame Awards will also spotlight both historic and contemporary activists, including the founders of Indivisible and No Kings, Urban League president Marc Morial, and farmworker movement icon Dolores Huerta, also 96. A young Selma playwright will be honored as well, underscoring the Jubilee’s commitment to lifting upemerging voices. 

Toure emphasized that “all boots” means everyone, across race, age, identity and background. 

“The red ones, the black ones, the yellow, brown and white ones… the gay and the straight ones… all boots on the bridge. Because we care,” Toure said. 

Toure also pointed out the issues “that we all care about” which are immigration, health care, mass incarceration, climate change, voting rights and human rights. 

Much of the press conference focused on young people, who organizers say are too often disconnected from the history that unfolded on the Edmund Pettus Bridge. 

“Black history and the history of that bridge is not taught in school,” Toure said. 

To close that gap, the Jubilee will host an essay contest, a history bowl, an Invisible Giants contest and a youth-focused line dance event on March 7 at 11 a.m., the anniversary of Bloody Sunday.  

Every child who submits a strong essay will receive a cash award. “We don’t believe in there being just one first prize,” Toure said. 

While the Jubilee honors a painful history, organizers stressed that the movement also contained joy, and that young people deserve to see that side too. “They see the beatings. They see the tear gas. But we want our young people to know that it was also joy in the movement,” Toure said. 

That joy was on full display as Toure was joined by Apostle G Martin King and Tameka Dirton to performed parts of the new “All Boots on the Bridge” line dance, complete with lyrics about resilience: “They may knock us down, but we keep getting up.” The music was written by King and lyrics by Toure. 

Toure and Sanders repeatedly tied the Jubilee to current political struggles, warning that voting rights remain under threat. 

Toure said, “Now we are fighting to save the democracy for all people,” referencing a pending Supreme Court case from Louisiana that she contends could weaken protections won after Bloody Sunday. 

They urged attendees to bring not only physical boots, but “mental boots” and “spiritual boots” to recommit to the work ahead. 

The Jubilee will also feature an all-day music festival with jazz, performances by The Last Poets, the creators of “The Wobble,” and Selma’s own Asher Havon. Organizers encouraged residents to “dance to the beat of the history.” 

Dirton said the Jubilee helps her connect with her heritage. “It’s teaching me how to learn about my Black history. I come and support my Black history and look over this bridge every day,” she said. 

King, who grew up in the movement, said Selma’s future depends on young people stepping into leadership. “Selma isn’t sinking. Selma is getting ready to emerge with new blood, with new power,” he said. 

With visitors expected from across the country and abroad, including a delegation of more than 200 people connected to the Jesse Jackson family, the 2026 Jubilee aims to be both a tribute and a rallying cry. 

“People are coming because it’s a time to be renewed and to recommit to the struggle to save this Voting Rights Act,” Toure proclaimed.