Bloody Sunday’s Hidden Figures: 7 Black Women History Almost Forgot

A civil rights marcher suffering from exposure to tear gas, holds an unconscious Amelia Boynton Robinson after mounted police officers attacked marchers in Selma, Alabama as they were beginning a 50 mile march to Montgomery to protest race discrimination in voter registration. Source: Bettmann / Getty

This year marks the 60th anniversary of “Bloody Sunday,” a moment that marked a turning point in the Civil Rights Movement.

On that fateful day, in Selma, Alabama, roughly 600 protestors joined the late great then-future congressman John Lewis as he led marchers across the Edmund Pettus Bridge to peacefully protest after state troopers shot and killed civil rights activist Jimmie Lee Jackson in Marion, Alabama.

The march turned ugly and Lewis was almost beaten to death after enduring brutal attacks from state troopers. It was then that the fight against racial injustice was galvanized.

Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., walks across the Edmund Pettus Bridge with Bob Schieffer of CBS News in Selma, Ala., on Saturday, Feb. 14, 2015. Rep. Lewis was beaten by police on the bridge on “Bloody Sunday” 50 years ago on March 7, 1965, during an attempted march for voting rights from Selma to Montgomery. e Source: Bill Clark / Getty

While historical figures like Lewis, Martin Luther King, Jr., Rosa Parks, and countless others are often highlighted in history books about their involvement in pushing the needle forward for Black people to gain their God-given rights in the country they helped to build, it is essential to note that many stories are often overlooked. This is why MadameNoire is looking at the forgotten Black women of Bloody Sunday.

As we commemorate the 60th anniversary of the incident on March 7, 1965, it would be remiss not to mention seven unsung heroes today, (March 8) International Women’s Day, who played a pivotal role in the watershed moment in the fight for Civil Rights.

1. Viola Jackson

Viola Jackson is considered one of the “first victims of Bloody Sunday.” A little over a month before the event took place, during a peaceful protest, police assaulted Jackson on February 18, 1965.

To protect his mother, her 26-year-old son, Jimmie Lee Jackson, intervened during the attack only to be fatally gunned down by a state trooper. The tragedy compelled activists to devise a plan, ultimately becoming the “Bloody Sunday march, designating its endpoint outside Governor Wallace’s office.”

It’s not known if Jackson participated in the march, but it is important to note that her tragic attack is what inspired Bloody Sunday.

2. Amelia Boynton Robinson

Civil rights hero Amelia Boynton attends the 2011 Trustees Emmy Award for Lifetime Achievement dinner and presentation at the Sheraton New York Hotel & Towers on February 25, 2011 in New York City. Source: Stephen Lovekin / Getty

While marching on Bloody Sunday, Amelia Boynton Robinson was cruelly beaten by state troopers. A black and white photo surfaced that showed the aftermath of the attack with Robinson in a weakened state and it ultimately “drew national attention to the cause.”

According to the National Museum of African American History and Culture, Robinson has a lengthy track record of activism, including working directly alongside the SCLC and Dr. King and helping to co-found the Dallas County Voters League in 1933.

3. Marie Foster

Marie Foster was one of the women on the frontlines during the Bloody Sunday march, but her work to help Black people gain voting rights must be highlighted.

After succeeding in registering to vote on her eighth try, Foster became one of very few registered voters within her community. From then on, she used her experience to teach classes on how fellow Black people in the state of Alabama could pass the tests that prevented their people from registering.

4. Diane Nash

Diane Nash co-founded the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and is known as “one of the architects behind the Selma voting rights campaign.”

Despite being the originator of marches in Selma following the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing, Nash’s ideas were “initially dismissed.” When she continued to fight to make the moment happen, she gained the support of several Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) leaders, including Dr. King.

5. Annie Lee Cooper

Annie Cooper worked alongside Robinson, helping to lead efforts with the Dallas County Voters League. After participating in Freedom Day, an event dedicated to registering Black voters, Cooper lost her job.

She was also blacklisted by white businesses in Selma, making it almost impossible for her to find work, however, this did not stop Cooper for showing up to march in Selma on Bloody Sunday.

6. Julia Barnes

Thanks to her asthma, Julia Barnes had to “turn back before the violence began” on Bloody Sunday. Yet and still, this did not prevent her from playing a vital role in the march.

Barnes used her housing project to provide shelter and refuge to those who had been violently attacked throughout the march, giving them a haven from the officers who used everything from dogs to horses to tear gas to cause those marching harm.

7. Sheyann Webb-Christburg

Civil rights activist Sheyann Webb-Christburg speaks at Albright College’s Memorial Chapel in Reading Wednesday evening 2/10/2016. She marched with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. when she was nine years old on March 7, 1965 in Selma Alabama during the “Bloody Sunday” march. Sheyann Webb-Christburg was given the nickname “Smallest Freedom Fighter”. Source: MediaNews Group/Reading Eagle via Getty Images / Getty

At the tender age of 9, Sheyann Webb-Christburg became the youngest to participate in Bloody Sunday.

Following a chance encounter with Dr. King, Webb-Christburg started sneaking out and even skipping school to spend hours at church for civil rights meetings. She says that having such larger-than-life figures in her company from an early age “awakened something in her.”

“I gained some courage because I was around courageous people,” said Webb-Christburg. Although many were against her participating in Bloody Sunday, she begged and pleaded to join and ultimately was granted to do so.

Bloody Sunday: 7 Courageous Black Women History Almost Forgot