SJR103 Summary

• Renames the Edmund Pettus Bridge spanning the Alabama River in Selma to the "Journey to Freedom Bridge"

• The bridge was originally named in 1940 for Edmund Pettus, a Grand Dragon of the Alabama Ku Klux Klan who enforced segregationist laws

• The bridge was the site of Bloody Sunday (1965) and subsequent Civil Rights Movement marches that led to passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965

• Young people in Selma collected over 180,000 signatures in support of renaming the bridge, viewing the current name as a symbol of the past that should be changed

• The new name honors the entirety of the Civil Rights Movement and serves as a commitment to continue the ongoing journey toward equal rights and freedom for all Americans