Selma Bridge Crossing Jubilee activities announced for 2024 event next week

The 2024 Bridge Crossing Jubilee starts next week with events throughout the week leading up to the re-enactment of the march over the Edmund Pettus Bridge. But the names of the speakers for Sunday spotlight event have not been announced. 

On Tuesday, Jubilee co-founder and Selma to Montgomery March Foundation board memberHank Sanders held a press conference to promote Jubilee events but said speakers such as President Joe Biden who came last year and Vice President Kamala Harris who came in 2022 have not said whether they will be in attendance yet. 

Invitations have been sent to the White House, he said, but there is no response yet, which is not unusual since they often wait until the last minute. 

“Thousands of people will be coming here,” Sanders said.“For so many, it’s a pilgrimage to renew their spirit. That spirit that was here in 1965” when protestors marched the bridge for equal voting rights. 

Sanders listed the many Jubilee-relatedevents to attend, many of which happen each year. 

“The Jubilee starts before it starts,” Sanders said. 

The theme for the Jubilee this year is “Return to the Bridge: Democracy and the Vote at Stake.” Sanders said many of the events and speakers will be focusing on getting people out to vote. 

The events surrounding Jubilee start Feb. 26 with the Kingian Nonviolence Seminars at the Selma Center for Nonviolence, Truth & Reconciliation. The seminars are led by Civil Rights legend Dr. Bernard Lafayette. They are open to the public and run through Friday, March 1 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day. 

The official kick off for Jubilee weekend is Feb. 29 with the old-fashioned Mass Meeting at Tabernacle Baptist Church starting at 7 p.m. Sanders explained that “during the 1960’s it was dangerous for a church to hold a meeting for voting rights or civil rights, but Tabernacle decided to hold one anyway.” That is why it is the official kick off for the Jubilee. Dr. David Peoples, president of the Progressive National Baptist Convention, will be the keynote speaker at the Mass Meeting at Tabernacle. 

Montgomery attorney Sharon Wheeler, board member for the Selma to Montgomery March Foundation Jubilee organizer, recommended attending the Foot Soldier’s breakfast to experience living history with the original foot soldiers telling their stories. The breakfast is Saturday, March 2 at 8 a.m. at Selma High School cafeteria. Alsoat Selma High School but at 7 p.m. is the Freedom Flame Awards. Wheeler said one of the award recipients is one of the Tennessee Three, Tennessee State Rep. Gloria Johnson. 

“I came to the Jubilee for the first time in 2000 and have been coming back ever since,” she said. “You come for one (event) and find so many more you will enjoy.” 

Other Jubilee events are an Education Summit on March 1 and 2. They are from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day at Wallace Community College. The Mock Trial at the Dallas County Courthouse, an annual favorite for many, is March 2, from 4-6 p.m. Each year the public participateson juries. Wheeler said, “One year, I looked up and Lou Gossett Jr. was at the mock trial. Other years there were other actors there.” 

Sunday is the climax of the Jubilee weekend. It starts with The Martin & Coretta King Unity Breakfast on March 3. The Unity Breakfast is from 7-9 a.m. at Wallace Community College. Wheeler said “Dr. Martin Luther King III comes to the Unity Breakfast and represents the family. Receiving Unity Awards this year are four of the original Freedom Singers and Maria Diarra Keita of Mali, West Africa as well as Hosea Williams, whose daughter will be accepting the award for him posthumously. 

Sanders said everyone asks who is coming to the Jubilee each year. “Many folks have been invited. Many have accepted but many have not yet.” He said many civil rights leaders and political activists are coming, including Rep. Jim Clyburn and minister and activist Dr. William Barber.  

Sanders said he hopes people who come to Jubilee will take that spirit back to their homes and “continue to fight for the right to vote and continue to fight for democracy because it is under attack.”