live coverage on american history television, on c-span3. [applause]

>> ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the president of the united states and mrs. michelle obama, accompanied by president bush and his is laura bush, and congressman john lewis. ♪

[applause] [cheers] >> good afternoon, again. i have the distinct pleasure to this time to introduce to you and to bring to the podium, alabama state governor. [applause]

>> president obama, mrs. obama, president bush, mrs. bush, congress and lewis, congress and sewall, mayor evans. it is an honor for me to be on the stage with you today, and to welcome all of these people to this great state of alabama. honor for me to join in today's historic occasion on the edmund pettus bridge that has become a monument itself to the struggle for civil rights over the past 50 years. this bridge represents the , thegth and determination loss and pain that have come to define the civil rights movement in america. it's an honor for me to stand here among you today on behalf

of the state of alabama. ago, approximately 600 people marched across this very bridge on their way to montgomery to demand the right to vote. those marchers, many who were nameless, had a bold vision to change the culture of america. selma stood poised, center stage, as a series of historical events unfolded around us, as the fight for civil day in our nation's history as to montgomery was met with violence. we have all seen the images and the stories of those men and women who desired the right vote. this nation was founded by men backgrounds.ns and it was founded on the principle equal.ll men are created

in 1965 the rights of man were every man didause not have the right to vote. we as a state and a nation are orever changed for having learned the lessons the bold us.ers of 1965 taught leaders like dr. martin luther ing and my good friend congressman lewis and so many of you who were involved in this movement. we need more men and women who are not afraid to stand up and for what they believe in. alabama is a different state in betwe1965 and so our nation. we have come a long way since the events of that bloody sunday. changed america. selma changed the world.

today we honor the memory, the of those who fice saw a better vision for our state and our country. is extremely important for younger generations to know were the sacrifices that made on this bridge and in the movement.il rights ut we choose to look beyond those ugly scars and focus on what alabama really is and what be.can alabama is my sweet home. i have a ed here and great love and respect for all he people who call themselves b alabamans. economic ace where opportunity abounds and there are good paying jobs and our a good can get education. backgrounds.ll it is a place where neighbors love and care for one another on issuesork together

that are important to all of us. on a ile we look back difficult chapter in alabama's history it is important that we new chapter together where opportunities exist for regardless of race or religion or politics. we reflect on the past 50 years, i think it is important ask what will alabama look li like? look like ur nation 50 years from now? that is up to our people. up to our leaders. it is up to those who have a america on that make and alabama better and stronger .han it was in 1965 as leaders, may we never lose boldness to do great things no matter how hard the struggle is. for without vision the people may perish.

50 years ago the eyes of the world were on alabama. today, i invite you to look at alabama again. is a place where we sweet home alabama. great nation this and may god bless there great state of alabama forever. you very much. >> good afternoon, america. my hometown of selma. to president and mrs. bush, to obama, to all mrs. of you, it is indeed a great day in selma, alabama.

selma i have r of crossed this bridge many times. the times i have felt weight carried by the brave foot soldiers of the voting rights movement. many times i have thanked them or their courage that they displayed in the face of extreme hatred. the st began to understand history of the edmond pettis ridge when i was five years old. y mom started to explain to me the events that took place on that bridge. it was hard for me to understand it was like to drink from a separate water fountain because selma i knew.he integrated. fully cle-- nurtured me. a selma led me to believe

little black girl could achieve any of her dreams. encourage ed d to dream my dreams because of the foot edmonds that crossed the pettis bridge. any dared to confront a wall of state troopers, unarrangement, undaunted and unafraid. how far we elebrate have come without acknowledging need to still go. , ere is unfinished business unfinished business of the voting rights movement. it is person for all of us to now that the story of selma is a story of america. it is america's struggles. us that ordinary americans can collectively work extraordinary social change. tpafoot soldiers marched for is still important

as americans we ust become ever vigilant to protect the gains of the past and expand and promote their legacy. is now. every generation faces its own struggles. political there is still much work to be done. 105 it fwas a person years old who was my special guest at the state of the union, passed her in the hall boynton who ay mrs. said get off my shoulders. there is plenty of work to do. so i say to you america there is do.t of work to may weal leave selma -- may we selma inspired by the foot soldiers of continuing for legacy of fighting

quality and justice for all. i have the great honor of somebody i didn't know how to address when i first came to congress. him colleague? do i call him congressman lewis? john?dare call him he is a civil rights icon and a from selma ack girl stands in his shadow. it is because of you, john, that so many of us get to walk the halls of congress, to get the in the oval office. it is because of you, john, and of bravery and the bravery .hose foot soldiers it is because of your bravery foot e bravery of those soldiers that i get to be alabama's first african-american congresswoman. congresswoman: to say thank you is not enough.

we know we have unfinished business to do, john. there is ise we know much work to do. i present to you the civil john lewis. thank you, my dear. my sterbgs -- sister, colleague, for those kind words of introduction. and sisters,others embers of the american family on this day, we as a nation have thankful for.o be , jimmy lee ckson

jackson, whose death inspired the selma march along with so , did not make it to see this day. but you and i are here. we can bear witness to the distance we have come and progress we have made in 50 must use this moment to recommit ourselves to finish the work done.till is left to be et out there and push and pull until we redeem the soul of ameri america. now i want to thank president obama, obama and mrs. president bu press george bush and mrs. bush for being here today. to thank all the members

of the cabinet and the here, my tion who are colleagues in the congress, all elected officials including bentley give robert and including the phaemayor of a other evans and all american people. i would like for all members of just ss in our delegation to stand. [applause] lewis: thank you. thank the group for one more s together time and the core leaders of our senator tim scott, the or sherry brown, and representatives. thank you so much.

to mrs. boynton of course our first contact when we 1962.to sell ma in she was registering people to .ote long before we arrived i'm also glad it see the governor george wallace ere peggy kennedy. thank you for being here, peggy. i want to thank each and every one of you who marched across bridge on bloody sunday. you didn't have to do it but you it. thank you! i will tell you it is good to be just oneone more time, more time. people often ask me why do you back? what purpose does it serve? ren e to sell ma to be

renewed. we come to be inspired. we ome to be reminded that k that we are rbg called to do. 1965, a few innocent of god, some carrying things, a plain purse or a ackpack were inspired to walk 50 dangerous miles from selma to montgomery to demonstrate the for voting rights in the state of alabama. day, on that day, 600 history, ched into down the o by two

sidewalk sidewalk. trade and ring with commerce. not entering with traffic. it was a kind of military discipline. peaceful, so quiet, word. saying a some of us were left bloody right here on this bridge. us were hospitalized that day. bitter or r became hostile. we kept believing that the truth would hold the point. this city on the banks of the alabama river gave

birth to a move that changed it forever. our country will never be the same because of what happened on this bridge. sunday ys after bloody the president of the united ba -- lyndon baines johnson delivered one of the important speeches ever made on voting ratights. he said the time for justice has come. no lieve sincerely that force can hold it back. say it is right in he eyes of man and god that it should come. history an fate meet at a single time in a shape a turning point in man's search for

freedom. he said so it was at lexington was at ord, so it appomattox. so it was in selma, alabama. back to our st go homes after this celebration and march n a legacy of the of 1965. exists today ment something.all do so i say to you don't give up on saying that has great meaning. don't get lost in a sea of despair. stand up for what you believe. because in the final analysis we are one people, one family, the family. we all live in the same house, house.rican the world house. we are black, we are white, we hispanic, asian american,

native american. we are one people. thank you. [applause] my beloved brothers and sisters, it is a great honor for me to return to my home to present to a to introduce to you ut to present to you the president of the united states. we would had told me cross there bridge that one day introducingack here

the first african-american president i would have said you are crazy, you are out of your mind. don't know what you are talking about. president barack obama. applause] lovedent obama: you know i you back. life a rare honor in this to follow one of your heroes. and john lewis is one of my heroes.

imagine that when younger john lewis woke up hat morning 50 years ago and made his way to brown chapel, on his mind.not not on his his was mind. young folks with bed rolls and milling about. veterans of the movement, colorado com -- new colora that. in gas does to tear the body for giving information loved ones.heir

the air was thick with doubt and and fear.on themselves forted with the final verse of the .inal hymn they sung no matter what may be the test, will take care of you. lean weary one upon his breast, you.will take care of his nap sack stocked with an apple, a toothbrush and book on government, all you , ed for a night behind bars john lewis led them out of the change n a mission to ameri america. president and mrs. bush, bentley, mayor evans,

sewell, reverend strong, members of congress, officials, foot , fellow friends americans americans, as john noted there are places and moments in this nation's destiny has been decided. are sites of war. concord and lexington. appomattox. gettysburg. symbolize sites that the daring of america's character. independence hall and seneca falls. cape canaveral. such a place.

afternoon 50 years ago so .uch of our turbulent history state of slavery and anguish of civil war. segregation and tyranny of jim crow. four little girls in birmingham and the dream of a preacher. all that history met on this bridge. it was not a clash of armies but wills. of the true to determine meaning of america. and because of men and women joseph flowers, amelia boynton, abernathy, ralph

andrew young, fred shuttlesworth. dr. plant martin -- dr. martin jr.er king the idea of a just america and air america and inclusive merica and generous america, that idea ultimately triumphed. as is true across the landscape not erican history we can examine this moment in isolation. of aarch on selma was part broad are campaign that spanned generatio generations. leaders that day part of a long line of heroes. e gather here to celebrate them. we gather here to honor the courage of ordinary americans endure billy clubs gasthe chasening rods, tear

and the trampling hoof and espite the gush of blood and splintered bone would stay truth to their north star and keep toward justice. instructed cripture for joy and hope, be patient in tribulation. be constant in prayer. days to come they went .ack again and again when the trumpet call sounded or more to join the people came. black and white. young and old. christian and jew. singinghe american flag the same anthems full of faith .nd hope a white newsman, bill plant, who then and is arches quipped that the

growing number of white people lowered the quality of singing. to those that marched those gospel songs must have never sweet.d so in time their chorus would well president johnson. nd he would send them protection and speak to the their call for america and the world to hear. we shall overcome. what enormous faith these men had!women faith in od, but also ameri america. crossed this who bridge, they were not physically courage but they gave

to millions. but held no elected office they led the nation. as americans who had endured hundreds of years of countless daily indignities. but they didn't seek special treatment, just the equal treatment. promised to them almost a century before. will hey did hear reverberate through the ages. the change they won was preordained. victory was heir comple complete. that n se they proved nonviolent change is possible. and hope can conquer ha hate. s we kphrepl rate their a--

commemorate their achievement we are well served to remember at he time of the marches many in power condemned rather than praised them. they were called or half breeds or outside agitators. degenerates and worse. they were called everything but the name their parents gave them. their faith was questioned. threatened.were their patriotism challenged. and yet what could be more in ican than what happened this place? applause] president obama: what could more profou the idea ofindicate america than plain and humble unsung, the down trodden, the dreamers not of high not born to wealth or

privilege, not of one religious coming n but many together to shape their country's course. greater expression of faith in the american experiment than this? greater form of patriotism is there than the belief that is not yet finished, hat we are strong enough to be self-critical and each successive generation can look pression perfection it mperfections and make nation to more closely align with our highest ideals. not some y selma is outlier in the american experience. hat is why it is not a museum or a static monument to behold from a distance. is instead the manifestation of a creed written into our

.ounding documents we the paoeeople, in order to f perfect union, we hold self-evident o be that all men are created equal. these are not just words. thing, a call ng road map for citizenship and an insistence in and apacity of free men women to shape our own destiny. founders like franklin and jeff, for leaders like lincoln of our r., the success experiment in self-governance rested on engaging all of our in this work. and that is what we celebrate here in selma. this movement was all about. long journey toward freedom.

american instinct that led the gunman and women to bid up the torch and cross this bridge, that is the same instinct that joe's revolution of her tyranny. the same instinct that led women to reach for the ballot, workers to organize against an unjust this -- unjust status quo. the idea held by generations of citizens who believe that america is a constant work in progress, who believe that loving this country requires more than singing its praises or avoiding uncomfortable truths, it requires the occasional disruption, the willingness to speak out for what is right, to shake up the status quo. that is america.

[applause] what makes us unique. that is what cements our reputation as a beacon of opportunity. young people behind the iron curtain what is he selma and eventually tear down that wall. would hear bobby kennedy talking about ripples of hope and eventually banish easterners of apartheid. burma went ton prison rather than submit to military rule. they saw what john lewis had done. of young people can draw strength from this place where the powerless to change the world's greatest tower and -- power and push their leaders to expand the battery -- boundary of freedom. they saw that idea made real here in selma, alabama.

they saw it manifest itself here in america. this,e of campaigns like the voting rights act was passed. political and economic and social barriers came down and the change in these men and women brought is visible here today in the presence of african americans who run boardrooms, fromd in elected office the congressional black caucus all the way to the oval office. [applause] because of what they did, the doors of opportunity's long open and not just for every american. , latinos marched, asian-americans, gay americans, americans with disabilities, they all came through those doors. [applause]

their endeavors gave the entire south the chance to rise against by transcending the past. what a glorious thing, dr. king might say. od what a solemn debt we we. which leads us to ask, how might we repay that debt? first and foremost, we have to one day ofhat commemoration, no matter how t enough.s no anything,ma taught us it is that our work is never done. the american experiment in self-government gives purpose to each generation. selma teaches us that action requires that we shed our

cynicism. when it comes to the pursuit of justice, we can afford neither complacency nor despair. askedhis week i was whether i thought whether the department of justices ferguson report shows with respect to race, little has changed in this country. i understood the question. the report narrative was sadly familiar. it evoked the kind of abuse and disregard for citizens that its bond the civil rights movement spawned the civil rights movement. but i reject the notion that nothing changed. is no longer ascension by law or by custom and before the civil rights movement, it surely was. [applause] we do it is service to the cause of justice by intimating that

bias and discrimination are immutable. that racial division is inherent in america. if you think nothing has changed askhe past 50 years, someone who lived through the selma or chicago or los angeles of the 1950's. who once female ceo might have been assigned to the secretarial pool if nothing has changed. as her gay friend of his is nower to be out in american than it was 30 years ago. , thisy this progress hard-won progress, our progress, would be to rob us of our own agency, our capacity, our responsibility to do what we can to make america better. mistake is these are just -- a more common mistake is the suggestion ferguson is an isolated incident, that racism is

banished, the work that drew men and women to selma is now complete and whatever racial tensions that remain are the consequences of those wanting to play the race card. we don't need the report to know that is not true. we just need to open our eyes and ears and hearts to know this nations racial history still casts its long shadow upon us. we know the market is not yet over. yetnow the race is not won. we know reaching that destination requires admitting as much, facing up to the truth. we are capable of bearing a great burden. james baldwin once wrote. once we discover that the burden is reality and a live where

reality is, there is nothing america cannot handle if we look squarely at the problem. this is work for all americans, not just some. not just whites, not just blacks. if we want to honor the courage of those who marched that day, all of us are called to possess a moral imagination. all of us need to feel the rce urgency of now, that change depends on our action, our attitudes, the things we teach our children. , noe make such an effort matter how hard it may sometimes seem, laws can be passed. consciences can be stirred. consensus can be built.

can make an effort, we sure our criminal justice system serves all and not just some. we can raise the level of mutual on,t that policing is built the idea that police officers are members of the community, they risk their lives to protect it. ferguson, new york, cleveland, just what the same thing and people here marched for 50 years ago, the protection of the law. [applause] together, we can address under sentencing and overcrowded prisons and the stunted circumstances that rob to many boys of the chance to become men and the nation of too many men who could be good dads and good workers and good neighbors. [applause] with effort, we can rollback poverty at the roadblocks to opportunity. americans don't accept a free

ride for anybody. nor do we believe in equality of outcomes but we do expect equal opportunity and if we really mean it, if we're not just given lip service, but if we really mean it and are willing to sacrifice for it, we can make sure every child gets an education the double to this -- suitable to this new century. one that expands imagination and gives children the skills they need. we can make sure every person willing to work as the dignity of a job and a fair wage and a rungs one and sturdier the ladder to the middle class. and with effort, we can protect the foundation stone of our democracy for which so many marched across this bridge and that is the right to vote. [applause] right now, in 2015, 50 years

after selma, there are laws across this country designed to make it harder for people to vote. as we speak, more such laws are being proposed. actwhile, the voting rights , the culmination of so much blood, so much sweat and tears, the project of so much sacrifice in the face of want. the voting rights stance weekend. it is good your subject to political ranking. how can that be? was one ofrights act the crowning achievements of our democracy, the result of republican and democratic efforts. [applause] president reagan signed its renewal when he was in office. president george w. bush side its renewal, 100 members of congress have come here today to

honor people who are willing to die for the right to protect it. if we want to honor this day, let that 100 go back to washington and gather 400 more and together, planned to make it their mission to restore that law this year. that is how we honor those on this bridge. [applause] of course, our democracy is not the task of congress alone. or the courts alone. or even the president alone. if every new voter suppression law was struck down today, we would still have in america one of the lowest voting rate among free peoples. 50 years go, registering to vote here in selma and much of the south meant guessing the number

of jellybeans in a jar, the number of bubbles on a bar of soap, risking or dignity and sometimes your life. what is our excuse today for not voting? how do we so casually discard the right for which so many thought? -- fought? how do we give away our power, our voice in shaping america's future? why reported to someone else when we could take the time to go to the polling place? we give away our power. so much has changed in 50 years. we have endured war and we fashioned piece. -- peace. we have seen technological wonders. we take for granted conveniences

that our parents could have scarcely imagined. but what has not changed is the imperative of citizenship. that willingness of a 26-year-old begin or unitarian minister or a mother of five to decide they love this country so much that they would risk everything to realize its promise. that is what it means to love america. that is what it means to believe in america. that is what it means when we say america is exceptional. for we were born a change. the old aristocracies, declaring ourselves not by bloodlines but endowed by our creator with certain a new n unintelligible --

unalienable rights. and fighty we argue with so much passion and conviction. we know our efforts matter. america is what we make of it. look at our history. we are lewis and clarke. pioneers who braved them familiar, followed by a stampede of farmers and miners and entrepreneurs. that is our spirit. that is who we are. truth.sojourner women who could do as much as any man and then some. we're susan b anthony shut the system until the lot resulted that truth. that is our character. we are immigrants stone away on ships to reach these shores, the masses,asses -- huddled holocaust survivors, the lost

boys of sudan. we are the hopefuls drivers strivers because we want our kids to have a better life. we of the slaves who built the white house and the economy of the south. the cowboys who opened up the west, the countless laborers who laid rail and raised skyscrapers and organized for workers rights. gis whohe freshfaced fought to liberate a continent and we are the tuskegee airmen and the japanese-americans who fought for this country even as their own liberty had been denied. whore the firefighters rushed into the buildings on 9/11, the volunteers who signed up to fight in afghanistan and iraq. we are the gay americans whose blood ran in the streets of san

francisco and new york just the way it ran down the stretch. we are storytellers, writers, poets, artists who have bore unfairness and despise' and give voice to the voiceless. we as inventors of gospel and jazz and blues, bluegrass and country and hip-hop and rock and role and our very own sound with all of the reckless joy of freedom. we are jackie robinson, enduring scorn and pitchers coming straight to his head and stealing home anyway. we are the people like stan hughes wrote of -- langston hughes wrote of. we are the people emerson wrote of whom for truth and honor's long,tand fast and suffer

nor never tired so long as we can see far enough. that is what america is. not stock photos or airbrushed history or feeble attempts to define some of us as more american than the others. [applause] we respect the path but we don't pine for the past. we don't fear the future. we grab for it. america is not some fragile thing. , containing multitudes. we are boisterous and diverse and full of energy, perpetually young in spirit. that is why someone like john lewis at 25 could lead a march. that is what the young people here today and listening all

across the country must take away from this day. you are america. unconstrained by habit and convention, unencumbered by what is because you are ready to seize what ought to be. this countrye in there are first steps to be taken. there is new ground to cover. the armoire bridges to be crossed. are more bridges to be crossed. and it is you, the most diverse and dedicated generation in our history who the nation is waiting to follow. selma shows us that america is not the project of any one person. because the single most powerful word in our democracy is the word "we." "we the people."

we can." what a glorious task we are given to continually tried to improve this great nation of ours. sunday fromm bloody our march is not yet finished. but we are getting closer. 239 years after this nation's founding, it is not yet perfect but we are getting closer. our job is easier because somebody already got us through that first mile, someone already got us over that bridge. when the torch feels too heavy, we will remember these early travelers and draw strength from their example and hold firmly to

the words of the prophet isaiah -- those who hope in the lord will renew their strength, they will store on the wings like eagles, they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be -- so we those who walk could run. we must run us our children sore and we will not go where he or we believe in the power of an awesome god and we believe in this country's sacred process -- promise. blessed united states of america. thank you, everybody. [applause]

here, we ared convinced of the eternal truth be planted in the minds and hearts of our and justice -- ancestors when they're reminded to take thatble which was meant for able and turn it to good. that you could take rugged --

we have come to do a little bit of patting each other on the back and patting ourselves on the back but to realize our congratulatory moment is on limit possible because we stand -- is only made possible because we stand on the shoulders of others. emission -- we want to shout to the top of our lungs that the mission as not been abandoned. we come to confess our sins and our personal and collective lives. we declare to the world we still ourselves,in you, in our system of government, the city of selma. become to pay our respects to those who have gone before us because we surely cannot pay the debt we owed to them will stop bless us now and help us to go forward in the spirit of those

who stood here, worked, bled, suffered here, but did not stop here. lorde blessed name of our and savior and all that is holy, we pray. amen.amen, and [applause] ♪

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