At the young age of 14, Lynda Blackmon was allowed to march from Selma to Montgomery.
In the height of the Civil Rights Movement, hundreds marched from Selma to Montgomery, Ala., in a nonviolent protest for voting rights. February 2020, Bay Area News 9 wrote these words sharing her story, her struggles and how she continues to live with the aftermath of Bloody Sunday.
“But the March 1965 demonstration was met with violence in what is now known as “Bloody Sunday.”
For Lynda Blackmon, the youngest demonstrator allowed to march that day, it’s still hard to talk about.
“I can’t forget those feelings to this day,” said Blackmon, who was 14.
She was hit twice in the forehead and shoved to the ground.
“I was running into a cloud of tear gas and this man was running, beating me, hitting me in my head,” Blackmon said.
The book Turning 15 on the Road to Freedom tells her story.
Blackmon said she became involved in the movement at 7 years old after her mother died.”
Learn about the women of the civil rights movement. They may not be household names but they are living history. Women have a story to tell. Learn their stories. This woman who walked with some of our civil rights giants had been through a tremendous ordeal at a young age. She had lost her Mother, her foundation, the person who loved and cared for her. For her to even participate in civil rights was a tremendous feat and a testimony to her mother, her tribe, her community. Learn the stories of everyday people in your community. It will change your life, change your perspective.
#womenshistorymonth #herstory #BloodySunday #LyndaBlackmon
Monica Briggs Anderson 