Bloody Sunday

WHEREAS, March 7, 2025, marks the 60th anniversary of Bloody 1
Sunday; and 2
WHEREAS, Today, the people of Washington state join the nation in 3
remembering Bloody Sunday; and 4
WHEREAS, After 35 years of organized violence to keep Negroes 5
from the polls, the Alabama state legislature ratified a new 6
constitution in 1901 that sought to disenfranchise Negro voters; and7
WHEREAS, Hard-working activist Amelia Boynton Robinson cofounded 8
the Dallas County Voters League in 1933 to register Negro citizens, 9
resisting the efforts of the Ku Klux Klan and county officials, who 10
restricted registration hours, threatened people's jobs, evicted 11
folks from their homes, led boycotts of Negro-owned businesses, and 12
committed violence against Negro people trying to register to vote; 13
and 14
WHEREAS, James Orange organized the Southern Christian Leadership 15
Conference, and was arrested along with 700 students and adults 16
engaging in nonviolent protests, sparking a march to the Marion 17
county courthouse in Alabama; and 18
WHEREAS, State officials were ordered to target the marchers, 19
prompting Alabama state troopers to lie in wait, turn off 20
streetlights, and ambush peaceful protesters; and 21
WHEREAS, An Alabama state trooper followed protester Jimmie Lee 22
Jackson, his mother, and grandfather as they fled to safety, and shot 23
SENATE RESOLUTION
8619
By Senators Lovick, Muzzall, Boehnke, Cleveland, Dhingra, Hansen, Hasegawa, Liias,
Nobles, Orwall, Pedersen, Shewmake, Stanford, Valdez, J. Wilson, Cortes, King,
Ramos, Salomon, Slatter, Trudeau, Conway, Fortunato, Kauffman, Torres, and Wagoner
p. 1 8619
and killed unarmed Jimmie Jackson, giving Negro leaders cause to 1
march to the governor's doorstep; and 2
WHEREAS, On the Edmund Pettus Bridge, 600 unarmed people 3
were beaten with billy clubs and baseball bats wrapped with 4
barbed wire and sprayed with tear gas by law enforcement 5
officers; and 6
WHEREAS, While 70 million people watched in dawning horror 7
as protestors were run down by horses and brutalized by law 8
enforcement officers, the nation was brought closer to 9
consciousness, the sanitized reality of the North split open by 10
the violent lived experience of Southern Blacks; and11
WHEREAS, As demonstrators sat to pray at the urging of John 12
Lewis, tear gas canisters began filling the air with smoke, in 13
the ensuing chaos Ms. Boynton was knocked unconscious, joining 14
the dozens of others beaten on the bridge; and 15
WHEREAS, In the wake of the march, President Lyndon B. 16
Johnson spoke to a joint session of Congress, saying "There is 17
no issue of states' rights or national rights. There is only the 18
struggle for human rights. We have already waited 100 years and 19
more, and the time for waiting is gone"; and 20
WHEREAS, The bravery of 700 transmuted into the will of 21
thousands, as more than 3,200 voting rights advocates began a 22
growing pilgrimage from Selma to Montgomery; and 23
WHEREAS, 25,000 marchers arrived at the Alabama state house, 24
signaling to the South, the nation, and the world, that the time 25
had come for self-determination to be given in truth to 26
Americans of all colors and creeds; and 27
WHEREAS, John Lewis would go on to become one of America's 28
finest leaders, and his message of unity and love in the face of 29
adversity taught us all a lesson about the power and possibility 30
of forgiveness; and 31
WHEREAS, In the words of Dr. King, "Darkness cannot overcome 32
darkness, only light can do that. Violence can never overcome 33
violence, only peace can do that. Hate can never overcome hate, 34
only love can do that"; and 35
WHEREAS, Thanks to the individuals who sacrificed that day, 36
lending their bodies and minds to that peaceful resistance, 37
alongside the endurance of many activists across the nation, the 38
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Voting Rights Act passed on August 6, 1965, marking a momentous 1
milestone for the Civil Rights Movement; 2
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, That the Senate, in 3
recognition of the bravery and steadfastness of Amelia Boynton 4
Robinson, James Orange, Jimmie Lee Jackson, John Lewis, Martin 5
Luther King, Jr., and all those who marched for equality on 6
Bloody Sunday, acknowledge the horrors of violence enacted 7
against Black people. We urge all citizens of our state to 8
remember the events of Bloody Sunday as we progress our 9
collective morals to the point where all citizens may experience 10
the equality and rights we know they deserve. 11
I, Sarah Bannister, Secretary of the Senate, 12
do hereby certify that this is a true and 13
correct copy of Senate Resolution 8619, 14
adopted by the Senate 15
March 7, 2025 16
SARAH BANNISTER 17
Secretary of the Senate 18
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