investigation therefore remains open." weekend edition, question about police excessive force. >> thoom, the officer must have been frustrated, unloaded his weapon 14 times. >> why would the officer shoot 14 times. >> did the man go too far? also having the talk, the blunt talk about race and justice in america. >> probably think i come from a low income family, they probably think that i'm dangerous. and i have to leave with that. >> "america tonight's" sarah hoye gets real with black parents their kids and what they

need to do to stay safe on america's streets. >> do you fear for them? >> i continue don't want to raise my children to operate with fear. what i want to raise them with is awareness. >> the edmond peddis bridge, bloody sunday and the echo of selma. >> jim did not die in vein? >> no, i don't feel that this is all in vain. i feel that it was a step in history. >> a trip back to alabama and the long journey still ahead to reach equality. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> and good evening, welcome to the "america tonight" weekend edition.

i'm adam may sitting in for joie chen. today we're taking a look at race law enforcement and justice. there was ferguson, staten island and now milwaukee. that's where another community has decided not to prosecute a police officer for his role in the death of a young black man. so the big question tonight is how do keep officers from going too far. "america tonight's" christof putzel looks at a new state law in wisconsin aimed at ensuring justice. but in this exclusive interview the family of a mentally ill man says that law has failed its first test. >> reporter: maria hamilton moved her sons to gary indiana to flee the local gang violence. >> i made a choice to bring them here. so they could get the education, be involved in the community sports like they weren't there.

>> reporter: but that dream of a new beginning and a safer life for her children ended last april 30th. >> right here? he was just laying down here? >> that afternoon, maria's youngest son dantre hamilton was sleeping outside, they say he suffered from schizophrenia and he often slept outside. >> the police officer started to strike dantre with the baton. witnesses say he never struck the officer, he was standing in baton. at that point, the officer must have gotten frustrated and unloaded his weapon 14 times. >> why would an officer shoot somebody 14 times? >> we feel it was some type of hatred, some type of emotion from maybe getting his baton taken. >> now an investigation into

that shooting has been completed. the district attorney of milwaukee has decided not to file charges against the officer, christopher manney. >> a a violent encounter happened between officer manney and mr. hamilton. b, there was a struggle, c, he was disarmed of that baton and some of the witnesses observed mr. hamilton actually strike officer manney or attempt to strike officer manney. >> reporter: the hamilton family was hoping for a different result. just after governor scott walker signed a law, first in the nation requiring that shootings be done by an outside organization. the investigation was done under that law. >> it was really great for my family. >> culmination for michael bell,

bell's son was also shot in disputed situation. >> can you tell me about your son? >> 21-year-old boy. younger brother was crying and i go hey nice picture i brought up my picture and snapped it and that's the last photo i ever took of him. >> on the night of november 7th, 2004, michael bell jr. was stopped by police while driving a friend's vehicle. captured on the dashboard camera the situation continued. >> you're under arrest. hands on the dash now. hands behind your back right now! >> in later statements the officer eric strauss baugh says

he continued to resist despite being tased several times. >> holding michael in a bear hug. he stated he's got my gun he's got my gun. he stated, in my mind the gun was taken away by michael bell. one of the theories you had is you thought the officer might have actually gotten his gun looked on this broken mirror here? >> straussbah is screaming, all he knew is someone was tugging on his gun. >> nice to meet you. >> bell's mother kim an eyewitness to the shooting has never shown the media what he she was seeing that night until now. >> i could see, he had his jacket on, the cop put his gun on my son's head and

screaming for help and the gun didn't go off right away and then i saw my son fall to the ground. i fell to the ground. >> i know. >> michael bell began researching house police shootings were investigated in wisconsin and was disturbed by what he found. >> i did not understand at the time that the police actually investigated themselves they collect the data and they give it to the d.a. and he makes the decision based on the information he's given. in 129 years we could not find a police department an inquest injury or a fire commission that said any shooting was unjustified. >> he vowed then to fight for a simple change. >> if a police officer takes a life let's make sure that the department that was involved in that shooting doesn't investigate itself. >> we got to start fighting back

message wise. >> he began tighting back, they sought comfort in common tragedy and huddled together to plot reform. >> barry's hands was up. reminded me of ferguson. >> i'm still looking for justice that i didn't get and i'm glad everybody's still fighting because i don't know how to fight, it doesn't impact everyone in this room, i don't have a lot of fight because i don't know how without people. >> the group honed their message to a fine point. when police kill, should they judge themselves? nearly ten years after bell's son was killed a bill establishing independent investigations was finally signed by the governor. >> our whole team was there. mothers of other boys that had been killed by a police officer were standing right behind the governor as he signed the bill. >> how did he file whether the law was finally passed? >> it was like, i accomplished my mission, i did everything i

was supposed to do and that's exactly what it felt like when i got this bill passed. >> yet you would be leap? >> yeah. -- yet you would be happy ? yeah. >> but the decision not to prosecute the officer who shot dantre hamilton has led many to believe the struggle is far from over. in what is now becoming a common sight, the failure to indict a police officer in a controversial shooting has sparked protests. >> this is a fight that we are going to endure. >> yes, sir. >> we're going to stay strong. >> yes, sir. >> we're not going to waver. we're not going to let it pass we're not going to turn our backs no more. >> no compromise. >> hamilton's mother is hoping for more than just outrage. her son was schizophrenic and many police are not equipped to deal with the growing number of mentally ill on the streets. she believes the police need a

new approach. >> dantre's name his voice to be heard as long as i have breath. we're going to dedicate our lives to changing. i'm not leaving anymore. >> christof putzel, al jazeera milwaukee, wisconsin. >> we'll continue our look at crime, justice and race, after the break. with the tough words in "the ." >> if you spoke to any or most men or young black men they will usualusually have a story with about that. >> are you okay with that? >> i'm okay with that. >> the frank talk with young black men having to deliver the message.

>> in light of the high profile deadly encounters involving police and young black men, many families of color are sitting down with their children having what they call "the talk" what they should and should not do if they're ever confronted by police officers. "america tonight's" sarah hoye with that story. >> reporter: another friday night, another funeral. >> i came here to show my support because i have three grand sons. and i'm afraid for their lives. >> inside mourners paid their respects to the family of akai girly, an unarmed black man shot to death in a stairwell by new york city police. his death came on the heels of michael brown , erik garner

and tanik rice. a conversation about race. >> how you doing, kim? >> hi. >> but in black homes the conversation is about life and death. >> if you speak to any or most black men or black young men they will usually have a story or two. are you okay with that? >> not okay with that. >> brooklyn natives kim van and her husband of 18 years, regiose are the parents of three children. started the day their sons was born, the talk about race. >> this recent news that was happening, all of the protests all of the marching have you guys had to have any unique discussions or was this something that was part of a longer conversation and it's just

added to it. >> i think discussion about race has been an ongoing discussion and i thank goodness that we've had the conversation already. i think my sons are not completely shocked by the news. >> for a country that prides itself on having justice distributed among the land but doesn't have justice when someone kills, someone that's close to my age and of my skin color, that's scary. >> i want to leave you with this point. >> reggie, an attorney and host of the podcast combat jack says he's taught his sons how to protect themselves. >> you know they're perceived in certain way? >> i know that they are perceived in a certain way in certain instances. >> how does that make you feel like a dad? >> i can't chaperone them in all instances but i can impart some type of a -- what's the word some type of practical mindset

body image. my sons were even stopped all three of them by police. >> since third grade at my school, i've been the only black boy in my grade. and i guess collectively my parents just told me to watch out, stay out of trouble and stuff because they kind of knew i would be looked at in a certain way. and i think i haven't really caught onto that until this year, when i was actually stopped by a police officer. i was just walking to my train. and they said -- they stepped in front of me they said consume can we please check your bag -- excuse me can we please check your bag i was like sure. everything was okay but i was kind of in shock. >> how did that make you feel? >> i understood what my parents had told me. like before it all clicked, it all made sense. >> i think there are two stages of learning. you learn you hear you recite you lectured to, when you go out to the real world, this is how i can apply what i have learned in the real world.

i think the kids are going through the realization stage where they are seeing what they have been instructed or taught for so many years. >> there is a fear there that is i can just walk down street and you know get shot and die and nothing will happen. and that i think is probably one of the most depressing things that i've had to deal with this year. as a 17-year-old in america you shouldn't have to think, to come to terms with the fact that if you get wrongfully killed, nothing will happen, and that person who kills you wrongfully, will not be held accountable for their actions. that's just terrible. >> the 17-year-old traveled owashington with his school to attend the -- to washington with his school to attend the justice for all march in december. >> i think it's important that we voice our opinions and try to make a change by protesting here and making some noise. >> shut it down. shut it down. >> as soon as i got off of the

bus in d.c., you know surrounded by hundreds of people who were cause. it is so clear to me that it's my responsibility as a young person to stand up for what's right especially as a young black person in america. >> you define it as your responsibility. why your responsibilities? >> my responsibility to speak up for smiex. myself. i speak not only for myself but for my younger brothers and i guess for every other young black man in america. >> two ivy league grads, four children all accomplished in their own right all facing the harsh reality that for them, race matters. >> unfortunately some everyday everyday experiences have to be i think sometimes met with caution for my sons. >> do you fear for them? >> i don't want to raise my children to operate out of fear. what i want to raise them with is with awareness. >> despite their awareness, some

fear still remains. the recent protests in new york city sparked a surge in police presence near the boys' private school downtown. >> do you feel safe with seeing all that? >> it ticks me off. >> i think it's excess. >> i find myself having a small anxiety attack. >> the boys say whether they're on the street or classroom people see color and a threat. >> what are some of the misconceptions people see when they see you guys? >> the mundane things are that we are good at sports basketball or track, we are thieves and just evil people. you know every time i get on the train and i happen to be a little too close to somebody even though it's really crowded, that person has to clutch their bag closer, move it to the front so i don't steal whatever's in their bag. i just think it's ridiculous to assume that. >> i think we listen to all of

them, they probably don't think i'm bad in the picture, they probably think i play basketball, they probably think i come from a low income family, they probably think i'm dangerous and i have to live with that. i can try change it but at this point in my life i am going to have to live with it. >> i feel like very little hope is given to us and i feel like if we embrace that, i think we're just feeding in to this you know psychological cycle where we're lesser and we're you know black is not beautiful and black is criminal. and i feel like it's up to us to redefine ourselves. >> race and racism in america is almost akin to a religion. people are going to believe what they want to believe. i hope that my boys have heard that they have to be excellent. so that at the end of the day, regardless what fool projects whatever type of bias on them

that their track record is undeniable. >> the osay family wants to see the end to scenes like this where in the future their lives can define themselves. >> where do we go from here? >> i don't have an answer. i think we have to live our lives and make something of our lives and once we're at the point where we want to be, then we can try to change whatever needs to be changed. >> sarah hoye, al jazeera, new york. >> still to come: when the talk is not enough. >> no more lives. no more lies. >> the grass roots movement for change. who is out front and who follows? now more than ever, women are the key

>> but i have no -- let them speak, let them speak. let them speak, let them speak. let them speak. let them speak. >> you hear the names mike brown eric garner, trayvon martin,

young black men whose names have become lightning rods for the new activism. here in washington d.c, most members of the national movement leading protests over these national deaths are women. mothers and sisters. who told "america tonight" their stories. >> when the trayvon martin decision came out, it was, i went into deep depression. so i felt a sense of hopelessness. and it was pretty severe, that i could see black people walking on the street, and i could see them as victims, as potential victims. it was another confirmation that black lives don't matter. and that the value of my son and my husband, there is no value. my name is erica tauton, i'm a wife and mother and active in

the black liberation movement here in washington, d.c. i have two children, five and four, they are two different children entirely. my son is very much a kid and aloof with things that are going on. my daughter marlee is on the opposite end of it. at four she is very much aware of what's going on. she is with me, i'm a stay at home mom, most of the time she's there. >> what do you think about it? >> i asked, what do you all know about the police? solomon said, if you take something they put your hands behind your back and they take you away. marlee what do you know about the police? she said almost immediately, the police kill everybody. >> hands up don't shoot. >> most of the actions the things that i'm seeing that i'm a part of black women aren't in, actions that are actually being

disruptive and shutting things down it's black women that are organizing planning and leading these actions. sometimes in many places we're the better communicators, we don't have a whole lot of ego that goes along with this. we can connect with our sisters and knowing that that is my sister. if it happens to her it happens to me. just to have my daughter sit in that space as well, it is very powerful and impactful for her to see. >> mama, mama, can't you see ♪ >> my name is tony sanders, i work at a bank in d.c. georgetown, my side job i don't get paid for but i love being here anyway is being here in the revolution. i am one of the founding members of think more, it is a small group of us but very dedicated. i find the smaller the group is the more dedicated the people are. i consider what we're doing

radical. lots of people would call us militant and that's okay. (bleep) (bleep) (bleep). >> i met erica after mike brown was killed and they started tear tear gassing the folks in ferguson. it was a group of young black people who wanted to do something more than tweet. >> i would say the effectiveness of organizing in secret is because it allows us to accomplish the task without it being thwarted. that the police can't prepare and try to stop our actions. we're in a space to be able to put the pressure on people, not let them be able to get to their jobs, not let them be able to get to their senate hearings whatever that is, so we can disrupt, so we can always see, no way of knowing where we're going to show up. >> what's going to happen we're

going to (bleep) shut you down. groups around china town, once inside the theater we're going to purchase tickets to chris rock's movie exodus and walk over and (bleep) shut down. >> egypt is in africa, we are tired of them erasing us, this is white supremacist propaganda and we're shutting it down. >> no more lies, no more lies! >> we are not going back to business as usual. no justice no peace. no justice no peace. >> you have to leave, you can't come in here and just -- >> we felt like we really made a difference. we could do everything. if only one person in that theater understood what we were coming from, we did our job. they stopped that movie, life was not going on as usual, it wasn't business as usual but a theater at night. you're going to have to replay

that movie, you're going to have to refund some money to people. i saw my top rank standing down there cheering as we came down. it just gave me a different rush of energy. all right, now let's keep it moving. let's really shut it down. everybody fall out. i just started yelling fall out, fall out and we did a massive die-in right there. >> the drawx drama comes from you, the black people of america, we lay here as an inconvenience to show you that black lives do matter. we disrupt your movie because your movie is full of lies. we were kings and queens, you got us in that movie as slaves. we are sick of the lies . ♪ the whole damn system is guilty as hell ♪

♪ whose streets? our streets ♪ >> we had that national march that is coming to take place. i don't think they'll give us the platform that our ferguson leaders who had an uprising in the country followed. they had to have a platform so ultimately if they are speaking we're shutting it down. we are shutting it down, then meet us at the march. meet us at the march. >> it is a national march and al sharpton is leading it. so ultimately the people we want to find what is voices we want to elevate. that's what my intention is. people from ferguson that are here, some stayed with me last night and others are in a hotel nearby. just making sure that their voices are elevated and there's a platform. there isn't anybody that ferguson organizer or leader on

the stage, then ultimately it needs to be shut down, to take the platform. >> at this point what we're realizing is that they're not going to legality anybody from ferguson speak. >> in this country -- >> our mission right now is to take over the stage because they are the catalyst of the movement and if we lead out their narrative then we're leaving out the most essential part. we've got erica, she's got media passes that she's going to be giving othem. this here (bleep) it's (bleep) a show for the media. >> we can't stop, we love our sister barbara but what we have the people that want to speak. >> let them speak! let them speak! let theming speak! >> if we don't get it shut it down! if we don't get it shut it

down! >> i'm jeanetteta jeanette from st. louis missouri. put your hands up hands up don't shoot hands up don't shoot hands up don't shoot hands up don't shoot. >> today the delegation of grieving mothers are going to congress to share their stories and to ask our elected officials to stand with them and to hear what the mothers are actually calling for. >> the only reason for him to die was because of the color of his skin. are we inquiring about why he was doing, he looked like he was doing something. >> you tell that's what i feel. oh god it's just so hard! >> we are here the delegations of

mothers through our pain through our grief we are standing together to show the world the face of police brutality. we are the families of what police brutality looks like. i would be holding my son's autopsy picture for you to see. when you see what we have to see when we have to identify those babies on a slab that have been killed and shot seven and nine times in the back and in the head, it changes who you are. and let me tell you: nothing in this world can prepare you to bury a child. >> this is about our lives. so when we talk about end game, it is not anything really like intricate. we just want to live. that's it. we just want to live. like everybody else does. we want our children to be able to go outside and play without fear of them being harassed by the police.

who are supposed to protect them. >> this activism goes on. erica is now in chicago working with other national groups including black lives matters and tony's organization think more is doing more, setting up an adoptive family food drive. still to come: a crime from another time. a death in new orleans. the blue shield of silence. and the very long road to justice. >> len davis evokes the same emotions that you have when you hear ted bundy. when you hear about the boogie man that's what len davis was. it's worse than just your average criminal or your average violent offender. this is the earn who has the power of law behind him.

>> the recent deaths of unarmed

black men at the hands of police exposes a divide in communities large and small which have long seen conflict between cops and citizens. and sometimes, there's corruption behind it. the death of a young mother 20 years ago in new orleans is a potent reminder of the worst of the worst and the power of a daughter's determination to find justice. "america tonight's" sarah hoye brings us an in-depth look at her story. >> dear mom: this memorial is hard. my insides feel dead. i just want to go to alabo, be young again and look you in your beautiful face. >> this is only picture jasmine groves has of her late mother. all the others destroyed by hurricane katrina. kim groves was killed by a hit man 20 years ago, the day before jasmine's 13th birthday. >> i went to answer the phone

and a friend of hers was, kim just got shot i think she's dead. >> jasmine ran outside, her mother lay on the ground a gunshot to her head. >> the thing that was amazing even though a bullet hole had knocked her brains out, her eyes, you could see the sorrow i have to leave you guys. you know. >> she spoke to you through hurry eyes? >> yes. >> the past two decades have passed slowly for jasmine. now a mother with three children, last month was her 32nd birthday, the same age as her mother when she was gunned down outside the ninth ward. marking the milestone. >> it was 911 who i called to come and help save you. but they know it was their own

kind who killed you. >> new orleans had 24 murders that year according to fbi statistics. earning the title murder capital of the world. >> verdicts could bring the death penalty. >> she was reporting vernon davis, a well-known corrupt cop and two co-defendants were found guilty in 1996. davis was sentenced to death. >> u.s. attorney eddie jordan was pleased with his prosecution team. >> this was a man who had no compassion for human beings. the language in the tapes clearly evidenced that. >> davis had been recorded on a federal wiretap ordering groafs ordering groves murder and celebrating when he found she was dead. >> gangs in blue, no other way

to describe it. >> long known for corruption and excessive use of force. >> how bad was it in 1994? >> it was the worst police department i had ever seen or heard of. not saying it was ubiquitous, it was in pockets, it was there. people think of it as a lone wolf, an aberrant cop. it wasn't. it was part of the system and lifestyle. >> jason williams, new orleans councilman at large. >> what comes to mind when you hear the name len davis? >> len davis evokes the same emotions as you have when you hear about ted bundy. when you hear about the bad guy the boogie man that is len davis. it's worse, not jury average criminal or violent offender this is a man who had the power of law behind him.

>> len davis is alive on death row, his case tied up in appeals for two decades. the family filed a federal civil rights lawsuit in 1975 when jasmine was just 14. but the judge stalled that appeal until davis's appeals are exhausted. >> justice is not justice, every day, len davis still on that road, he can go back and forth court whenever he wants. but no one considered a family who has to go through this, over and over and over again. >> new orleans city officials declined "america tonight's" interview request saying the city does not comment on pending litigation. however, councilman williams met with jasmine. >> she needs to keep that

incident alive to make sure her mother's courage is not forgotten. we gave her a proclamation from the city of new orleans honoring her mother's commitment to fairness, to being a hero. >> what was that like to hear somebody from the city acknowledge your loss? >> amazing. i can't even express the feeling because it never happens. i mean we never was told sorry we never was told, you know, someone come out and just check on us. how y'all living, how y'all doing? for someone to come and apologize and actually sit the whole time, it was just amazing. >> new orleans police abuses and subsequent coverups prompted not one but two federal consent decrees. the second one is still in place. >> we patched some things up but they were literally patched up. a couple of guys were dealt

with, taken off the force, prosecuted. but there was never an addressing of the culture of that type of policing. >> a culture of policing both williams and sharp says echos across the country including ferguson missouri,ing where the death of michael brown at the hands of police sparked outrage. >> any time a large group of people are ostracized and not a part of mainstream society and the policing is draconian that's going to create a problem. you can be poor but when you're poor and there's draconian policing of just your neighborhoods, that's going to create unrest. >> the killing of kim grove was capital murder premeditated. vicious retaliatory murder. i don't think anybody's saying that's true of ferguson. but the racial divide in terms of perception of the police is very similar.

>> peter sharp says the len davis era still haunts the city and in many ways hinders reform, making it difficult for a police department under a dark cloud, that seems to follow the force. last week the new orleans inspector general found five sisters in the special victims unit may have ignored sexual crimes, inclusion a two-year-old brought to the police department with a sexual disease. >> there is this context of disorder. >> as the city wrestles with that legacy, jasmine groves who is working to becoming a juvenile probation officer, says she is working to keep the story

of her mother and what happened to her alive. >> kim groves is alive, i am kim groves, we all are kim groves, i wanted kim groves memory to be everywhere, families who have gone through this can also be a jasmine groves and stand up for your loved ones. i want the world to remember kim groves, she will live on. >> sarah hoye, al jazeera. >> in a moment, we view conflict and the police through a grim time in the nation's past. >> he hit me. in the back of my neck. and it hurt, then the second hit felled me and i fell to the ground. >> remembering selma and remembering the clashes that shattered a nation but gave rise

to real change.

>> these images marked a turning point. the long simmering anger of black communities seeking fairness and justice, an echo of another angry time in our nation's history. well now just weeks ahead of a key anniversary in the civil rights movement the parallels between that time and this are impossible to ignore. those who would challenge the system, those who stood up for justice and the power of ordinary people to move the nation even change the law. here's "america tonight" host joie chen. ♪ come by here my lord come by here ♪ ♪ >> reporter: you can never remember selma and forget the

bridge. here where the jefferson davis highway leads town and heads north to montgomery are where the first steps in the long journey in the fight against jim crow began. >> come by here my lord ♪ ♪ come by here ♪ >> and here, a local woman barely known outside her alabama town became the image of bloody sunday seen around the world. ♪ oh lord come by here ♪ >> today amelia boynton is 103 but she clearly recalls the terror that day. as officers tried to stop the marchers, demanding the right to vote. >> seeing them, with sticks, with billy clubs, anything they

had, they began to beat the people, and they did everything they could to get the people to run back while they were beating them. >> on the pettis bridge over the river amelia boynton was one of the many to face the forces of a renegade sheriff. >> finally he hit me in the back of my neck, the back of my shoulder. and it hurt. but i didn't know what to do. i had no idea what i should do. then the second hit fell to me and i fell to the ground. that, i was unconscious. >> even then, the torture didn't end. an officer pumped tear gas into her eyes and mouth.

>> then somebody came and said to the state trooper, there's somebody dead over there. and he said, somebody's dead? if anybody's dead, we're going to let the buzz arts eat arts ards eat them. die. this is the never before published emergency room records. her image, along with others that day, inspired another movement. >> you're a minister from the north, a white guy. you had no stake in this. why did you come? >> i knew that things were wrong in selma. sunday. >> hours of later clark olson

heard the call. >> may be some tear gas ahead. >> martin luther king jr. asked the nation's ministers black and white to join him in selma for a march to montgomery, the state's capital. it was not just a show of unity, king knew that the white ministers would put more pressure on president johnson though no one could have predicted what came next. >> you are ordered to stop stand where you are. >> is it hard for you to be here now? >> i've gotten used to it. i've been back here a number of times and i've gotten used to it. but there still is within me that old terror. >> nearly 50 years after bloody sunday, we walked with clark olson. on the block that changed his life. >> this is walker's cafe. >> olson joined two other white

ministers, orlotf miller and james reed for a quick meal. >> the place is jam packed. i guess they ran out of everything you about chicken fried chicken, by the time we got there. >> they found themselves surrounded by white agitators. >> do you remember what they said? >> yes i do, primary thing they called out was hey you niggers. we whispered, just keep walking, just keep walking. >> something slammed into reed's skull. >> i heard that club hit jim's ahead. >> olson was at reed's side as he fainted. >> i held jim's hand and he squeezed my hand tighter and tighter and tighter.

as the pain worsened in him. [ pausing ] >> and then, his hand relaxed. and he went ... he went unconscious. >> two days later, jim reed was dead. at selma's brown ame church protest turned to prayer and the fire that time spread across the nation. >> thousands of people gathered in places like boston and chicago and new york and san francisco and so on. thousands of people gathered. just to keep vigil. and then when he died, again thousands of people gathered. >> it's a moment olson sees echoed today. hands up, i can't breathe.

>> what do we want? justice. what do we want? >> and then as them, the president spoke for justice. >> i speak tonight for the dignity of man. >> president johnson spoke. he said that there are times in man's unending quest for justice. >> history and faith meet to shape a turning point in man's unending search for freedom. >> such was in lexington and concord and selma. >> there, long-suffering men and women, peacefully, protested the denial of their rights as americans. many were brutally assaulted. one good man, a man of god, was killed. >> that was jim reed.

70 million americans tuned in to see johnson urge congress to pass the voting rights act. despite an invitation, dr. king did not attend. he was at brown ame giving reed's eulogy. >> god still has a way of ringing, freedom may cause the whole citizens of our family and form the negative extreme, causes for the extreme of the right. [♪ singing ♪ ] you should come by here ♪ >> justice has traveled a slow path towards that bright future dr. king spoke of here. the marchers did finally make their way to montgomery. johnson was able to force through the voting rights act. amelia boynton lived to see her

community guided by black leaders. and, in time, a humble pastor from a far-away place was remembered on the corner where he became a martyr. >> that's guy you remember. >> that's guy i remember. >> bow tie? >> not at all a commanding presence. >> not heroic? >> not heroic. not heroic. >> he didn't intend to be. >> no, he did not. >> not a hero, just an every man, a manual who might have lived and died a quiet life had it not been for the tragic consequences that led him to a street corner in selma 50 years ago. instead jim reed became a reminder of the sacrifices of just a few people can change history for all of us. so jim reed did not die in vain. >> no he didn't -- >> even after ferguson? >> no, he didn't -- no.

i don't feel that this is all in vain. i feel that it was a step in history. >> come by here my lord ♪ ♪ come by here ♪ >> for me to have been there is a great thing in my life. but i know that's not the end of the story. ♪ come by here, o lord, come by here ♪ >> that's "america tonight" host joie chen. the city of selma's preparing for 50th anniversary commemoration of bloody sunday that's this coming march and a movie about those days, selma currently playing at theaters across the nation. it's been a year since the state of colorado legalized the sale and use of marijuana for recreational purposes, as the push for legal pot across the country all eyes are on colorado. and next week "america tonight's" lori jane gliha takes

a look at pot, the winners losers and ung expected consequences. >> a year on pot. millionaire. >> can you tell me what that feels like to say million? interi'm not used to it. >> a new breed of tourists. >> at least half of the people here are tourists. so the tourism has totally like exploded here. >> and a new breed of jobs. >> if i could be a pot breeder that would be amacing. amazing. >> it's pretty much inhaling. >> it's a pot gold rush and demand for new products is outstripping the supply. >> the good news is, these products literally we have a half a million dollar backlog on any given day. >> but the year on pot in colorado has also seen some lows. >> here is the inside of the palm.

the inside of the palm that's his skin brewing away. >> the people at home brewing up concentrating pot are ending up in burn units, kids and adults are oding on marijuana in food. >> i was starting to convulse. >> you thought you were going to die? >> i said at least 20 times in the car ride, i'm going to die right now. >> how prepared are you in colorado to enact this law? >> we're not prepared. >> all eyes are on colorado's experiment while the movement momentum. lori jane gliha, al jazeera, denver colorado. >> for now that's it for us here on "america tonight." remember if you would like to comment on any of the stories you've seen tonight, just log on to our website, aljazeera.com/americatonight. you can join the conversation on our twitter or facebook page. thanks for watching, have a great night.

>> this is al jazeera america. i'm thomas drayton in new york. wenjian is my hero, we can always count on him. >> paying respects to a slain officer. black boxes and 120 bodies have yet to be recovered. the accused boston marathon bomber is scheduled to be in