Life of Selma civil rights foot soldier remembered in Washington
The life of a civil rights foot soldier in Selma is being remembered on Capitol Hill in Washington.
U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell (D-Alabama) spoke on the floor of the U.S. House today about George Sallie. He died earlier this month at the age of 94.
He was one of the people beaten on Bloody Sunday in Selma in 1965, while fighting for voting rights.
Last year, he walked across the Edmund Pettus Bridge with President Biden and Sewell during the annual Bridge Crossing Jubilee re-enactment march.
Sewell wants to make sure Sallie is never forgotten.
“Mr. Sallie’s life stands as a testament to the power of ordinary Americans to achieve extraordinary social change. He never missed a bridge crossing commemoration, and I was honored to stand alongside him and President Biden last year as he marched across the Edmund Pettus Bridge for one last time,” Sewell said from the floor of the U.S. House, with a large photo of her, Sallie and the president next to her.
Sallie was the son of sharecroppers who served in the Korean War. Sewell wants him remembered as she calls on Congress to pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act.
