Selma march in Boston

A couple thousand people marched from the First Church in Roxbury to Boston Common today to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Selma March and the Voting Rights Act and to push for re-authorization of the bill, which gave Southern blacks the right to vote unhindered for the first time since Reconstruction. The march also commemorates a similar Roxbury-to-the-Common march led by the Rev. Martin Luther King in 1965 to protest school desegregation in Boston.

The march began with speeches at the church, including one by U.S. Rep. John Lewis of Georgia. In 1965, Lewis, then 23, tried to lead a march from Selma to Montgomery, Ala. to push for voting rights. He and other protesters were beaten by Alabama state troopers and Selma police.

"We must say we will never, ever forget what happened!"

Watch Lewis describe the Pettis Bridge attack (5.5M QuickTime video).

A number of politicians spoke, including City Councilor Chuck Turner, who used the chance to blast military spending and Israel (which he said has turned Palestinians into POWs):

U.S. Sen. John Kerry noted that as he was speaking, Rosa Parks's body was lying in state in the U.S. Capitol: "Rosa Parks is the right person to be in that rotunda today."

He continued: "You have to march and you have to fight and you have to stand up like Rosa Parks and John Lewis to make sure we do what's right in this country." Noting voting-rights issues in the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections even as the U.S. tries to push democracy abroad, he added: "We ought to be spending a little more energy to bring democracy right here at home."

Gubernatorial candidate Deval Patrick, who headed the Justice Department's civil-rights division under Clinton, called for a recognition that governmet can be a force for good; that Katrina exposed the faults of the "government is bad" mantra.

Mayor Tom Menino said Boston continues to have racial disparaties in education and health care and told marchers they need to do more than just march; they need to keep asking "How can we make it a better world for all our people?"

State Rep. Byron Rushing: "Boston is better than it was in 1965, but as the gospel song says: 'We're not where we used to be, but we're not where we want to be."

In the middle of the pre-march ceremonies, a pair of red-tailed hawks began circling overhead:

Time to march:

Kerry, Lewis and City Councilor Felix Arroyo:

Cute kids and dogs also marched:

The media was everywhere, even in the middle of the march route (nobody knocked into the guy, though):