(RNS) — On March 7, 1965, hundreds of peaceful and determined protesters marched across the Edmund Pettus Bridge to condemn racist voting restrictions and years of unjust treatment. Dozens of faith leaders — including the beloved Baptist minister and civil rights leader John R. Lewis — were part of the committed, courageous and well-organized movement across the bridge.
When the demonstrators reached the apex of the bridge, they looked down to see police officers — some on their feet and some on horseback — poised to attack them with billy clubs, whips and tear gas. When they announced their intent to march, the police pounced on them.
Dozens of activists were hospitalized. This event, which came to be called “Bloody Sunday,” was a pivotal moment for the Civil Rights Movement. The horror of the event inspired people from all over the country to make their way to Selma to join in the fight. Through their careful organizing and courageous protests, and months of work, the revolutionary Voting Rights Act was passed.
Faith leaders were a linchpin of this movement. They heeded the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s call to participate in more marches. They organized troves of people to fight for equality and justice. They spoke powerfully from their pulpits about the connections between faith and the Civil Rights Movement.
Without the profound work of faith leaders during this time, it’s very possible the Voting Rights Act would have stayed only a dream.
While there has been progress over the past six decades, racism and white supremacy are still prevalent in our society. Today, we’re seeing a particularly dramatic and terrifying resurgence of the kind of hate that caused the extreme violence of Bloody Sunday. The Trump administration has unleashed a cascade of policies that will roll back protections for communities of color and fuel unimaginably racist reverberations.
As history has shown, faith leaders will be instrumental to stop this onslaught. King’s words are as relevant today as they were years ago: We must move in the “fierce urgency of now!” We need to step up, organize and take action — and fast.
Make no mistake: While the Trump administration’s actions may not be as visually horrifying as Bloody Sunday, they will have devastating, long-lasting impacts on communities of color.
President Donald Trump has assembled a Cabinet made up of people who have supported white nationalist theories, peddled vaccine conspiracies in Black communities, claimed racism in the military is fake, undermined public education about racism, demonized immigrants and condemned diversity, equity and inclusion policies.
In his first few weeks in office, his administration has also terminated DEI programs in the federal government, attempted to declare all race-conscious student programming and financial aid illegal and rescinded executive orders that were designed to provide equal opportunities in the workplace.
It’s an all-out, multilevel attack on centuries of collective struggles for freedom. There’s no telling the discrimination, bigotry and hatred this will enable.
Faith leaders are among the best-positioned to galvanize and sustain a social movement to fight these reversals. People gain inspiration from all sorts of places, but faith leaders are unique. They have the capacity, if they use it, to speak to people’s deepest, most integral values and offer profound guidance on how people can live their lives in ethical accordance with their faith. They can cultivate powerful bonds between their members, building strong, vibrant communities that can push hard for change.
It’s crucial to equip faith leaders with the tools and skills to use their pulpit to advance justice, and at Union Theological Seminary, we are taking steps to offer our students a course in “Preaching and Protest,” which will provide guidance on how faith leaders can advance the fight for justice. Students will examine how different leaders cultivated and fueled social movements. To commemorate Bloody Sunday, students will also travel to Selma for the annual Jubilee Celebration, where they will experience sermons and speeches firsthand.
For their final assignment, students will craft a sermon or speech that speaks to an issue relevant to our current reality. And they must incorporate a direct reference to a method, issue, person or circumstance related to the movement for voting rights in Selma.
As we reflect on the events of Bloody Sunday and the efforts that followed, we’re reminded of King’s speech “Our God Is Marching On!” after the completion of the Selma to Montgomery march weeks after the attacks on the Pettus Bridge.
He proclaimed: “Let us march on ballot boxes until we send to our city councils, state legislatures, and the United States Congress, men who will not fear to do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with thy God. Let us march on ballot boxes until brotherhood becomes more than a meaningless word in an opening prayer, but the order of the day on every legislative agenda. Let us march on ballot boxes until all over Alabama God’s children will be able to walk the earth in decency and honor.”
Let’s heed those words, and get to work.
(The Rev. Timothy Adkins-Jones is an assistant professor of homiletics at Union Theological Seminary. The Rev. Serene Jones is president and the Johnston Family Professor for Religion & Democracy at Union. The views expressed in this commentary do not necessarily reflect those of RNS.)