The Road from Selma to Ferguson

6 minute read

We remember our wars by their battlegrounds. By the same logic, the long fight for civil rights in the United States is sometimes reduced to a series of cities: Montgomery, Little Rock, Selma.

Some would now add to the list Ferguson, Mo., the site of unrest last year over the shooting of an unarmed black teen and the subject of a recent scathing federal report on institutional racism. Not to mention Cleveland, Staten Island and Dayton, where encounters with the police turned suddenly deadly for African Americans.

For the protesters of today, the parallels are unmistakable with Selma, where those calling for voting rights were brutally beaten by local police on the Edmund Pettus Bridge 50 years ago Saturday.

Brittany Packnett, the executive director of Teach for America in St. Louis and an organizer in Ferguson, was at a sneak preview of the movie Selma in December when word spread that the New York police officer who was videotaped choking Eric Garner would not be indicted for his death. For her, it only seemed to underline the connection between Selma and cities like Ferguson, 600 miles to the north.

“Our eyes watered up from that same tear gas 50 years later, on a street a couple hundred miles up from the Edmund Pettus Bridge,” she said.

But the road from Selma to Ferguson is not a straight one. While voting rights remains an important topic in the black community, it is now police violence that is animating the most visible public protests. Instead of a backdrop of official segregation, they’re occurring under the nation’s first black president. And the regimented civil rights movement of the 1950s and ‘60s has given way to a more democratic, decentralized force.

For some, that decentralization threatens the movement’s ability to make real change.

“The question is, if we have a ‘movement,’ and I’m not sure we do,” said Henry Louis Gates, Jr., a professor of African-American history at Harvard University. “A movement has an analysis, an agenda, and a plan of action. Every revolution—the Bolshevik revolution, the Cuban revolution, the American revolution—has a text.”

The March on Washington: Power to the People

Martin Luther King Jr. addresses the crowd during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, August 28, 1963.
Martin Luther King Jr. addresses the crowd during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, August 28, 1963.Francis Miller—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Scene from the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, August 28, 1963.
Scene from the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, August 28, 1963.Paul Schutzer—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Scene from the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, August 28, 1963.
Scene from the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, August 28, 1963.Paul Schutzer—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Lena Horne at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, August 28, 1963.
Lena Horne at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, August 28, 1963.Paul Schutzer—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Scene from the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, August 28, 1963.
Scene from the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, August 28, 1963.Paul Schutzer—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Scene from the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, August 28, 1963.
Scene from the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, August 28, 1963.Paul Schutzer—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Scene from the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, August 28, 1963.
Scene from the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, August 28, 1963.Paul Schutzer—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Joan Baez sings during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, August 28, 1963.
Joan Baez sings during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, August 28, 1963.Paul Schutzer—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Odetta sings during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, August 28, 1963.
Odetta sings during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, August 28, 1963.Paul Schutzer—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Scene from the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, August 28, 1963.
Scene from the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, August 28, 1963.Paul Schutzer—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Scene from the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, August 28, 1963.
Scene from the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, August 28, 1963.Paul Schutzer—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Actress and activist Ruby Dee, who with her husband, Ossie Davis, served as "master and mistress" of ceremonies at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, August 28, 1963.
Actress and activist Ruby Dee, who with her husband, Ossie Davis, served as "master and mistress" of ceremonies at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, August 28, 1963.Paul Schutzer—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
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Caption from LIFE. Overalled couple with New York delegation, reminiscent of famous Grant Wood painting, join crowd which packed mall before Lincoln Memorial.Paul Schutzer—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Scene from the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, August 28, 1963.
Scene from the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, August 28, 1963.Paul Schutzer—The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images

Focusing only on specific acts of police violence is “like putting a Band-Aid on cancer,” he said.

But prominent members of the Black Lives Matter movement — which in true 21st century fashion began as a hashtag on Facebook and Twitter — say that times have changed. They use similar tactics: peaceful protest, direct action, civil disobedience. But they intentionally reject the leadership structure that elevated Dr. Martin Luther King to the status of a historical icon.

Patrisse Cullors, executive director of human rights group Dignity and Power Now and co-founder of Black Lives Matter with Alicia Garza, says there’s a “sense of nostalgia” for an old style of leadership that doesn’t fit with the democratic values of the new movement. As she talks, she makes sure to credit other activists constantly, noting that she and others have pledged not to call themselves “leaders.”

“We don’t have a leaderless movement, we have a leaderful moment,” Packnett says.

They also break with the past on issues of style. While the protesters of the ‘50s and ‘60s wore their Sunday best, marched in an orderly fashion and used uniform messaging on their signs, today’s protesters are more individualistic and worry less about appearing respectable. Instead, the protestors in Ferguson and New York are more concerned with amplifying all voices than with conforming to expected behaviors.

“Respectability politics does not save you from racism in this country,” Packnett says. “It simply does not.”

Some protesters even argue that Americans have overemphasized the achievements of the past.

“The first civil rights movement addressed these things on paper and through legislation, but they never addressed the idea of us being human beings,” says Damon Davis, a Ferguson-based artist affiliated with Black Lives Matter.

That legislative legacy is also in doubt. The marchers in Selma were demanding a specific package of federal legislation — the Voting Rights Act of 1965 — that ensured that black voters could cast their ballots without facing literacy tests and other hurdles designed to suppress the vote. In 2013, the Supreme Court struck down a portion of the law that required certain areas, mostly in the South, to get preapproval from the federal government before changing voting laws.

Witness Tension Between Police and Protestors in Ferguson, Mo.

A man backs away as law enforcement officials close in on him and eventually detain him during protests over the death of Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager killed by a police officer, in Ferguson, Mo.
A man backs away as law enforcement officials close in on him and eventually detain him during protests over the death of Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager killed by a police officer, in Ferguson, Mo., Aug. 11, 2014. Whitney Curtis—The New York Times/Redux
Ferguson St. Louis Missouri Police Shooting Riots Protests
Riot police force protestors from the business district into nearby neighborhoods in Ferguson, Mo. on Aug. 11, 2014.Scott Olson—Getty Images
Ferguson St. Louis Missouri Police Shooting Riots Protests
A child uses a rag to shield his face from tear gas fired by riot police, who used it to force protestors from the business district into nearby neighborhoods in Ferguson, Mo. on Aug. 11, 2014.Scott Olson—Getty Images
Ferguson St. Louis Missouri Police Shooting Riots Protests
Police officers keep watch from an armored vehicle as they patrol a street in Ferguson, Mo., on Aug. 11, 2014Mario Anzuoni—Reuters
Ferguson St. Louis Missouri Police Shooting Riots Protests
Police officers ride an armored vehicle as they patrol a street in Ferguson, Mo. on Aug. 11, 2014.Mario Anzuoni—Reuters
Ferguson St. Louis Missouri Police Shooting Riots Protests
A demonstrator raises his hands in front of of a police officer in Ferguson, Mo. on Aug. 11, 2014.Mario Anzuoni—Reuters
Ferguson St. Louis Missouri Police Shooting Riots Protests
Riot police lock down a neighborhood in Ferguson, Mo. on Aug. 11, 2014.Scott Olson—Getty Images
Ferguson St. Louis Missouri Police Shooting Riots Protests
People raise their hands in the middle of the street as riot police move toward their position trying to get them to disperse, in Ferguson, Mo. on Aug. 11, 2014.Jeff Roberson—AP
Outrage In Missouri Town After Police Shooting Of 18-Yr-Old Man
Demonstrators raise their hands and chant "hands up, don't shoot" during a protest over the killing of Michael Brown on in Clayton, Mo. on August 12, 2014.Scott Olson—Getty Images
Outrage In Missouri Town After Police Shooting Of 18-Yr-Old Man
Civil rights leader Rev. Al Sharpton speaks about the killing of teenager Michael Brown at a press conference held on the steps of the old courthouse in St. Louis on Aug. 12, 2014.Scott Olson—Getty Images
Outrage In Missouri Town After Police Shooting Of 18-Yr-Old Man
Police take up position to control demonstrators who were protesting the killing of teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo. on Aug. 12, 2014.Scott Olson—Getty Images
Outrage In Missouri Town After Police Shooting Of 18-Yr-Old Man
Demonstrators protest the killing of teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo. on August 12, 2014.Scott Olson—Getty Images
Outrage In Missouri Town After Police Shooting Of 18-Yr-Old Man
Demonstrators protest the killing of teenager Michael Brown outside Greater St. Marks Family Church in St. Louis on Aug. 12, 2014.Scott Olson—Getty Images
Outrage In Missouri Town After Police Shooting Of 18-Yr-Old Man
Police stand watch as demonstrators protest the shooting death of teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo. on Aug. 13, 2014.Scott Olson—Getty Images
TEAR GAS SHOT AT PROTESTORS
A demonstrator throws back a tear gas container after tactical officers worked to break up a group of bystanders on Chambers Road near West Florissant in Ferguson on Aug. 13, 2014. Robert Cohen—St. Louis Post-Dispatch/MCT/Zuma Press
Police Shooting Missouri
Police officers work their way north on West Florissant Avenue clearing the road of people in Ferguson, Mo. on Aug. 13, 2014. Robert Cohen—St. Louis Post-Dispatch/AP
Outrage In Missouri Town After Police Shooting Of 18-Yr-Old Man
Demonstrators protest the shooting death of teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo. on Aug. 13, 2014.Scott Olson—Getty Images
Police Shooting Missouri
People run through smoke in Ferguson, Mo. on Aug. 13, 2014.Jeff Roberson—AP
APTOPIX Police Shooting Missouri
A protester takes shelter from smoke billowing around him in Ferguson, Mo. on Aug. 13, 2014.David Carson—St. Louis Post-Dispatch/AP
Police Shooting Missouri
An explosive device deployed by police flies in the air as police and protesters clash in Ferguson, Mo., on Aug. 13, 2014Jeff Roberson—AP
Police Shooting Missouri
Thousands of demonstrators peacefully march to the spot where Michael Brown was shot and killed by police in Ferguson, Mo. on Aug. 14, 2014. Jeff Roberson—AP
Outrage In Missouri Town After Police Shooting Of 18-Yr-Old Man
Demetrus Washington joins other demonstrators protesting the shooting death of teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo. on Aug. 14, 2014.Scott Olson—Getty Images
Demonstrators protest outside of Greater St. Marks Family Church in Ferguson, Missouri
Demonstrators protest outside of Greater St. Marks Family Church in Ferguson, Mo. on Aug. 14, 2014. Lucas Jackson—Reuters
Protesters take part in a peaceful demonstration against shooting of Michael Brown, in Ferguson, Missouri
Protesters light candles as they take part in a peaceful demonstration in Ferguson, Mo. on Aug. 14, 2014. Lucas Jackson—Reuters
Missouri State Highway Patrol Captain Ron Johnson speaks to protesters as he walks through a peaceful demonstration as communities continue to react to the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson
Missouri State Highway Patrol Captain Ron Johnson (L) speaks to protesters as he walks through a peaceful demonstration as communities continue to react to the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo. on Aug. 14, 2014. Lucas Jackson—Reuters
Outrage In Missouri Town After Police Shooting Of 18-Yr-Old Man
A young child looks out from a car as demonstrators drive down West Florissant Avenue protesting the shooting and death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo. on Aug. 15, 2014.Scott Olson—Getty Images
Outrage In Missouri Town After Police Shooting Of 18-Yr-Old Man
A demonstrator walks through smoke launched by police after a skirmish in Ferguson, Mo. on Aug. 15, 2014Scott Olson—Getty Images
Ferguson Lowenstein
A demonstrator protests on Florissant Ave in Ferguson, Mo. on Aug. 16, 2014. Jon Lowenstein—NOOR for TIME
Ferguson Lowenstein
Children walk past police officers during a demonstration in Ferguson, Mo. on Aug. 16, 2014. Jon Lowenstein—Noor for TIME
Ferguson Lowenstein
Protestors help a man who was injured by tear gas thrown by police after refusing to disperse after the midnight curfew in Ferguson, Mo. on Aug. 17, 2014. Jon Lowenstein—Noor for TIME
Ferguson Jon Lowenstein Teargas
Protestors throw canisters in Ferguson, Mo. on August 18, 2014.Jon Lowenstein—Noor for TIME
Ferguson Lowenstein
Protestors demonstrate against the killing of Michael Brown by police officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Mo. on August 17, 2014.Jon Lowenstein—NOOR for TIME
Ferguson Lowenstein
A protestor during demonstrations in Ferguson, Mo. on August 17, 2014.Jon Lowenstein—Noor for TIME
Ferguson Lowenstein
A protestor retaliates against police in Ferguson, Mo. on Aug. 17, 2014.Jon Lowenstein—Noor for TIME
Ferguson Lowenstein
A protestor throws a canister of tear gas back at police during demonstrations in Ferguson, Mo. on Aug. 17, 2014.Jon Lowenstein—Noor for TIME
Police Shooting Missouri
Police wait to advance after tear gas was used to dispersed a crowd in Ferguson, Mo. on Aug. 17, 2014.Charlie Riedel—AP
Ferguson Lowenstein
A protestor holds a sign that reads "stop killing us" amid clouds of tear gas in Ferguson, Mo. on Aug. 17, 2014.Jon Lowenstein—Noor for TIME
Police Shooting Missouri
Police wait to advance after tear gas was used to disperse a crowd in Ferguson, Mo. on Aug. 17, 2014.Charlie Riedel—AP
Outrage In Missouri Town After Police Shooting Of 18-Yr-Old Man
Tear gas rains down on a woman kneeling in the street with her hands in the air during a demonstration in Ferguson on Aug. 17, 2014. The "hands up, don't shoot" pose became the defining gesture of the protests.Scott Olson—Getty Images
Protesters react to the effects of tear gas which was fired at demonstrators reacting to the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri
Protesters attempt to treat a woman who was in a cloud of tear gas thrown by police in Ferguson, Mo. on Aug. 17, 2014. Lucas Jackson—Reuters
Demonstrators march down West Florissant during a peaceful march in reaction to the shooting of Michael Brown near Ferguson, Missouri
Demonstrators march down West Florissant Ave. during a peaceful march in reaction to the shooting of Michael Brown near Ferguson, Mo. on Aug. 18, 2014. Lucas Jackson—Reuters
REUTERS PICTURE HIGHLIGHT
Demonstrators march down West Florissant during a peaceful march in reaction to the shooting of Michael Brown, near Ferguson, Mo. on Aug. 18, 2014. Lucas Jackson—Reuters
Police arrest two in front of McDonalds
Police tackle a man who was walking down the street in front of McDonald's in Ferguson, Mo. on Aug. 18, 2014.Laurie Skrivan—St. Louis Post-Dispatch/AP
US-CRIME-RACE-POLICE-SHOOTING
Law enforcement officers watch on during a protest on West Florissant Avenue in Ferguson, Mo. on Aug. 18, 2014. Michael B. Thomas—AFP/Getty Images
National Guard Called In As Unrest Continues In Ferguson
Demonstrators cover their faces as tear gas fills the air as police fire the gas against an unruly crowd protesting the shooting death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo. on Aug.18, 2014Joe Raedle—Getty Images
Violence between police and protestors erupts in Ferguson - again
A protestor wearing a gas mask stands with his hands up while facing armed police in Ferguson, Mo. on Aug. 18, 2014. Abe Van Dyke—Demotix/Corbis
Police fire tear gas in the direction of where bottles were thrown from crowds gathered near the QuikTrip on W. Florissant Avenue on Aug. 18, 2014.
Police fire tear gas in the direction of where bottles were thrown from crowds gathered near the QuikTrip on W. Florissant Avenue in Ferguson, Mo. on Aug. 18, 2014. David Carson—St Louis Post-Dispatch/Polaris
Demonstrators stand in the middle of West Florissant as they react to tear gas fired by police during ongoing protests in reaction to the shooting of Brown, near Ferguson
Demonstrators stand in the middle of West Florissant as they react to tear gas fired by police during ongoing protests in reaction to the shooting of teenager Michael Brown, near Ferguson, Missouri, August 18, 2014. Lucas Jackson—Reuters
Demonstrators protest against the fatal shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo. Aug. 19, 2014.
Demonstrators protest against the fatal shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo. Aug. 19, 2014. Joshua Lott—Reuters
A police officer in riot gear detains a demonstrator protesting against the shooting of Michael Brown, in Ferguson
A police officer in riot gear detains a demonstrator protesting against the shooting of Michael Brown, in Ferguson, Mo. on Aug. 19, 2014. Joshua Lott—Reuters
Police officers in riot gear watch demonstrators protesting against the shooting of Michael Brown from the side of a building in Ferguson
Police officers in riot gear watch demonstrators protesting against the shooting of Michael Brown from the side of a building in Ferguson, Mo. on Aug. 19, 2014. Joshua Lott—Reuters
TOPSHOTS-US-CRIME-RACE-POLICE-SHOOTING
Two protesters sit with their faces covered during a peaceful protest in Ferguson, Mo. early on Aug. 20, 2014. Michael B. Thomas—AFP/Getty Images
A man is doused with milk and sprayed with mist after being hit by an eye irritant from security forces trying to disperse demonstrators protesting against the shooting of Brown in Ferguson
A man is doused with milk and sprayed with mist after being hit by an eye irritant from security forces trying to disperse demonstrators in Ferguson, Mo. early on Aug. 20, 2014. Adrees Latif—Reuters
APTOPIX Police Shooting Missouri
In this photo taken with a long exposure, protesters march in the street as lightning flashes in the distance in Ferguson, Mo., Aug. 20, 2014.Jeff Roberson—AP

By contrast, the protesters of the Ferguson era have not yet settled on a particular demand from the federal government. While there is bipartisan support for a criminal justice reform proposal sponsored by Democratic Sen. Cory Booker and Republican Sen. Rand Paul, activists are seeking a more fundamental shift in the relationship between police and the black community, one that may only be achieved on the local level.

Packnett, who served on a White House task force that looked into 21st century policing, thinks that the key may be using the influence of the federal budget to implement change. That would mean things like putting restrictions on the use of military equipment given to local police forces or using applications for grants to query the diversity of police officers. The report also suggests using special prosecutors for cases of police brutality and considering having police officers wear body cameras.

To some, the biggest difference between Selma and Ferguson is that it’s a lot harder to identify the problems today than it once was.

“There were Jim Crow laws, you had to dismantle the laws. Dismantling it was complicated, analyzing it wasn’t,” Gates says. “Analyzing what’s happened to the class structure in black America ain’t that simple anymore. That’s why people mobilize around these specific acts of seemingly random violence.”

Gates returned again to his point: “Until we have a text for the next revolution, we won’t have a revolution.”

To some of the protesters of today, though, historians are simply looking in the wrong place.

“Twitter is our text,” says Cullors. “In 30, 40, 50 years, we’re all going to look back and say, ‘I was either a part of that’ or ‘I wasn’t.’”

 

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Write to Charlotte Alter at charlotte.alter@time.com