In the birthplace of Civil Rights Movement, groups rally to defend Black political representation

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Thousands of people rallied Saturday in the city considered the crucible of the modern Civil Rights Movement to push back against conservative states’ efforts to dismantle congressional districts that helped secure Black political representation.

The gathering in Montgomery, Alabama, was put together in response to the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that weakened the Voting Rights Act and the resulting rush by southern states to redraw lines. Speakers said they returned to the city, famous for the Montgomery Bus Boycott and the Selma-to-Montgomery voting rights march, because the fight that began there is continuing for later generations.

The Rev. Bernice King, speaking near the spot where her father, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., addressed voting rights marchers in 1965, said the dedication and sacrifice of that generation changed the trajectory of the country.

“Sixty-one years later, we come back as new generations to this same hallowed place to reclaim and redeem that legacy because the recent Supreme Court decision demands our presence. It was not only a legal decision, y’all, it is a moral disgrace and a shameless assault on Black political power,” King said.

She said the decision strikes “at the very heart of my father’s and my mother’s sacrifice” and is a direct attack on the generations who faced “dogs and batons and bombs and billy clubs so that Black people and all marginalized communities could participate fully...