Jorden smiled at her parents. They always bickered. Alex came back to mind. At one point she thought they might have had something special between them, now she wondered. She scolded herself for thinking about him and tried to answer her dad’s question.

“Dad, I think it would take almost a week. I’ll read on and see what I’ve written.”

“‘This was followed by Bloody Sunday, on March 7, 1965. John Lewis and Hosea Williams, under the leadership of Martin Luther King Jr., led a group of over 600 people on a fifty-four mile march to Montgomery. They made it only six blocks to the Edmund Pettus Bridge. They were brutally attacked by state and local lawmen and forced back into Selma. The media was present during the peaceful march and images of the brutal attack were on the news. This stunned the nation, awakening the U.S. civil rights movement. The Selma march made international news.’”

“Mom, do you think Etta May marched with this group?”

“I know she did. Brother told me Etta May marched each time they tried to cross the Edmund Pettus Bridge. Due to her weight she couldn’t move as fast as the others. She didn’t sustain injuries, but she had friends who were badly hurt. After the march, Brother said the tension in Selma boiled over.” Her mother paused before saying, “Please, read on.”

“‘Right after Bloody Sunday, Martin Luther King Jr., organized a second march for Tuesday, March 9, 1965. He called for support. Over 2,000 people responded. This time an attempt to get a court order to prevent the police from intervening was denied, and a restraining order was issued to stop the march. Instead, they held a ceremonial march. They led the large group of marchers to the Edmund Pettus Bridge for a short prayer session and then turned them around to march back to Selma.

The night after the prayer march, three white ministers who had come for the march were attacked and beaten by white bigots. One of the ministers died. A week later, a federal judge ruled in favor of the freedom to march.”’

“I remember. It was awful they killed a white minister. It stirred up a lot of trouble,” her dad commented.

Justin popped into Jorden’s mind. She knew he would have surmised the white ministers shouldn’t have been there supporting the cause whereas she hoped Alex would have cheered them on encouraged by their support.

“‘The third and last march prevailed and they made it to Montgomery, Alabama. It took five days before they reached the State Capitol Building on March 25, 1965. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his speech “How Long, Not Long”’ standing next to the State Capitol building.’”

Her mother turned around and interjected, “You don’t have to ask. Etta May made it to the State Capitol. Brother said she beamed every time she talked about it.”

Jorden continued with a final highlight.