John Lewis: A Legacy Unmatched

Not many of us get to live to see our own legacy play out in such a meaningful, remarkable way. John Lewis did:https://t.co/KbVfYt5CeQ

— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) July 18, 2020

Farewell, sir.

You did, indeed, fight the good fight and get into a lot of good trouble.

You served God and humanity well.
Thank you.
Take your rest. #JohnLewis pic.twitter.com/U1cPEwfCGO

— Be A King (@BerniceKing) July 18, 2020

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"How long can we be patient? We want our freedom now."

Rest in power, John Lewis ✊🏿 pic.twitter.com/lx5nOHsCeD

— African American Policy Forum (@AAPolicyForum) July 18, 2020

https://t.co/XPFsWuGmFJ pic.twitter.com/z6HMNH53w2

— Paolo Uggetti (@PaoloUggetti) July 18, 2020

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When I visited Uncle John last week, I looked in his eyes and said, “Well done.”

I told him that I loved him and that we are going to continue to fight.

So I must mourn and move at the same time.#JohnLewis pic.twitter.com/v6VxL48vgw

— Be A King (@BerniceKing) July 18, 2020

Vivian. Lowery. Lewis. Young.
👑👑👑👑 pic.twitter.com/aJyz9ML6FE

— Be A King (@BerniceKing) July 17, 2020

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#CTVivian and #JohnLewis have journeyed on together.

Two great vessels for the work of justice, including for voting rights for Black people in America.

It’s not happenstance that, in this critical hour, with so much on the line in November, their lives are lifted high. pic.twitter.com/LsW7Ol0eXL

— Be A King (@BerniceKing) July 18, 2020

Lowery
Vivian
Young
Shuttlesworth pic.twitter.com/1GRVnTYd1I

— Be A King (@BerniceKing) July 17, 2020

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“We were beaten, we were tear gassed. I thought I was going to die on this bridge. But somehow and someway, God Almighty helped me here.”

This would be the last time John Lewis would visit the Edmund Pettus Bridge, 55 years after Bloody Sunday pic.twitter.com/BXqHyO0CQl

— philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) July 18, 2020

https://twitter.com/ira/status/1284336818490466304

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I’m finding myself in the deepest gratitude that John Lewis and CT Vivian got the chance to become elders. To pass on the wisdom. To pray for us. Grow us. Lead us.

They chose freedom work that easily shortens one’s life. And we got to keep them for a while. What a blessing.

— brittany packnett cunningham. (@MsPackyetti) July 18, 2020

John Lewis could have been martyred that Bloody Sunday. Rev. Vivian could have been murdered at those sit ins.

God spared them long enough for them to keep fighting and to teach us how to fight.

I’m awe struck by the privilege to walk this earth at the same time as them.

— brittany packnett cunningham. (@MsPackyetti) July 18, 2020

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My heart is heavy, but I am resolute.

They tread paths we get to walk.
What an awesome privilege.
What an awesome responsibility.

John Lewis. CT Vivian.
Giants who walked among us.

And we get to walk in their footsteps.

— brittany packnett cunningham. (@MsPackyetti) July 18, 2020

I say we get to, because liberation work is as much a privilege as it is a duty.

So many didn’t live long enough to see themselves worthy of being free, let alone struggle for it to become real.

Walk upright, family. As they did. As they want us to. No matter the strife.

— brittany packnett cunningham. (@MsPackyetti) July 18, 2020

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There is nothing we can’t over come.

I don’t care who beats us back. I don’t care who snatched progress. I don’t care how hard they try to wrestle freedom from our hands.

Freedom is ours. Justice is divine.

— brittany packnett cunningham. (@MsPackyetti) July 18, 2020

We will win.

— brittany packnett cunningham. (@MsPackyetti) July 18, 2020

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https://twitter.com/BridgetMarie/status/1284335406000070657

Elders, now ancestors. Hallelujah. pic.twitter.com/ze53PFMTuh

— Be A King (@BerniceKing) July 18, 2020

January 2015

Looking for a document and stumbled across these beauties from a happier time in the White House. I wasn’t supposed to be taking pictures all up in there. But how could I resist? It was just too wonderful. Private screening of SELMA. January 2015. pic.twitter.com/xBZ0PO5xwf

— Ava DuVernay (@ava) September 8, 2019

American Patriotism

https://twitter.com/jonfavs/status/1014488950101061632

https://twitter.com/jonfavs/status/1014489300707127302

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https://twitter.com/jonfavs/status/1014489957249921025

https://twitter.com/jonfavs/status/1014490010836336640

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https://twitter.com/jonfavs/status/1014490053764976640

Soothe Your Soul

The President’s Thinking Hours

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Michael D. Shear: Obama After Dark: The Precious Hours Alone

“Are you up?” The emails arrive late, often after 1 a.m., tapped out on a secure BlackBerry from an email address known only to a few. The weary recipients know that once again, the boss has not yet gone to bed. The late-night interruptions from President Obama might be sharply worded questions about memos he has read. Sometimes they are taunts because the recipient’s sports team just lost. Last month it was a 12:30 a.m. email to Benjamin J. Rhodes, the deputy national security adviser, and Denis R. McDonough, the White House chief of staff, telling them he had finished reworking a speechwriter’s draft of presidential remarks for later that morning. Mr. Obama had spent three hours scrawling in longhand on a yellow legal pad an angry condemnation of Donald J. Trump’s response to the attack in Orlando, Fla., and told his aides they could pick up his rewrite at the White House usher’s office when they came in for work. Mr. Obama calls himself a “night guy,” and as president, he has come to consider the long, solitary hours after dark as essential as his time in the Oval Office.

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He works on speeches. He reads the stack of briefing papers delivered at 8 p.m. by the National Security Council staff secretary. He reads 10 letters from Americans chosen each day by his staff. “He is thoroughly predictable in having gone through every piece of paper that he gets,” said Tom Donilon, Mr. Obama’s national security adviser from 2010 to 2013. “You’ll come in in the morning, it will be there: questions, notes, decisions.”  One night last June, Cody Keenan, the president’s chief speechwriter, had just returned home from work at 9 p.m. and ordered pizza when he heard from the president: “Can you come back tonight?” Mr. Keenan met the president in the usher’s office on the first floor of the residence, where the two worked until nearly 11 p.m. on the president’s eulogy for nine African-Americans fatally shot during Bible study at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, S.C. Three months earlier, Mr. Keenan had had to return to the White House when the president summoned him — at midnight — to go over changes to a speech Mr. Obama was to deliver in Selma, Ala., on the 50th anniversary of “Bloody Sunday,” when protesters were brutally beaten by the police on the Edmund Pettus Bridge. “There’s something about the night,” Mr. Keenan said, reflecting on his boss’s use of the time. “It’s smaller. It lets you think.”

More here

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Tweets Of The Day

51 years ago today, we said a prayer before setting out from Brown Chapel to march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge. pic.twitter.com/bt2gJFDuPb

— John Lewis (@repjohnlewis) March 7, 2016

At the apex of the bridge, high above the Alabama River, Hosea Williams asked if I could swim. I said no. #Selma51 pic.twitter.com/dlEXA8dJ6X

— John Lewis (@repjohnlewis) March 7, 2016

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Down below, we saw a sea of blue... Alabama State Troopers putting on their gas masks. #Selma51 pic.twitter.com/mOSfX07atn

— John Lewis (@repjohnlewis) March 7, 2016

Major John Cloud said, "This is an unlawful march. It will not be allowed to continue." #Selma51 pic.twitter.com/Gw5pHCHJDM

— John Lewis (@repjohnlewis) March 7, 2016

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The Major paused for a minute and then he said, "Troopers advance!" pic.twitter.com/rN8Br6bqse

— John Lewis (@repjohnlewis) March 7, 2016

I was hit in the head by a State Trooper. I thought I saw death. I thought I was going to die. #Selma51 pic.twitter.com/N4CDxv2vJG

— John Lewis (@repjohnlewis) March 7, 2016

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I had a concussion there at the bridge, and I've never been able to recall how any of us made it back alive #Selma51 pic.twitter.com/TlJRfyrikO

— John Lewis (@repjohnlewis) March 7, 2016

51 years ago today: Bloody Sunday, most important march in civil rights history. Led to Voting Rights Act #Selma51 pic.twitter.com/dzyrB8fXlW

— Ari Berman (@AriBerman) March 7, 2016

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FACT: 14 presidents have had 19 Supreme Court nominees confirmed in presidential election years. pic.twitter.com/cvXnpbQzgm

— White House Archived (@ObamaWhiteHouse) March 7, 2016

The amazing story behind this photo of a sexual assault survivor and Vice President Biden at the Oscars https://t.co/bhfoXgmSBp

— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) March 7, 2016

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"You really did save my life." —Brent, a Republican from Milwaukee, to @POTUS about the Affordable Care Acthttps://t.co/lhlggqAV1r

— White House Archived (@ObamaWhiteHouse) March 7, 2016

There's things about both candidates I don't like. I'll be voting for whoever the Democrats nominate. Principles don't supercede lives.

— Jamil Smith جميل كريم (@JamilSmith) March 7, 2016

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BREAKING: Supreme Court reverses Alabama court that denied lesbian woman's adoption https://t.co/zT7Am9eO6C pic.twitter.com/g79fDJgX4t

— Southern Poverty Law Center (@splcenter) March 7, 2016

70% of black women are registered to vote. Highest of any group in the US #BlackWomenVote https://t.co/3y6BKqLx0Q #BlackGirlMagic #ImWithHer

— Shashana 🇺🇸 (@Shashana80sKid) March 6, 2016

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This is what happens when you don’t SEE black people and they’re just another talking point

Here is that since-deleted @BernieSanders "Bloody Sunday" tweet, complete with image from the film SELMA. pic.twitter.com/CIxaVRbqKx

— Jamil Smith جميل كريم (@JamilSmith) March 7, 2016

Rough day for the Sanders campaign: #Selma photo snafu and "ghetto" remarks clarification on top of "I'm talking" and auto bailout vote.

— Emo Desperado (@JoyAnnReid) March 7, 2016

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.@BernieSanders responds to @NBCNews' question about his "ghettos" comments from last night in the #DemDebate. pic.twitter.com/JeJtGkQNHl

— Danny Freeman (@DannyEFreeman) March 7, 2016

https://twitter.com/rodimusprime/status/706929003018514432

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Some people will give whiteness a pass for any and everything. She has been taking the drug for 10 years and Serena Williams still crushed her

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https://twitter.com/TheObamaDiary/status/706965028713402368

#Sharapova was emailed about changes to the banned list, but "didn't click on that link".https://t.co/5W6giNqtFj pic.twitter.com/JJKUDCDle7

— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) March 7, 2016

Maria Sharapova fails drug test at Australian Open: https://t.co/WXnRja9ukY pic.twitter.com/gqOXaizBg1

— Deadspin (@Deadspin) March 7, 2016

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I'm proBernie but would vote Hillary as I am a one issue voter and that issue is not opening the seventh seal and ushering in the apocalypse

— Ivan Hernandez (@ivan_hernandez) February 2, 2016

AIDE: he's calling you "little Marco"
RUBIO: what if i sit in this huge chair
AIDE: no, why would you—
RUBIO: weeeee pic.twitter.com/kQOBB3aVpn

— Matt Negrin, HOST OF HARDBALL AT 7PM ON MSNBC (@MattNegrin) March 5, 2016

Rise And Shine

President Barack Obama works on his statement on the compromise reached to reduce the deficit and avert a default, in the Outer Oval Office, Aug. 2, 2011. Standing in the background are, from left: Director of Communications Dan Pfeiffer; Press Secretary Jay Carney; Jon Lovett, Associate Director of Speechwriting; and Senior Advisor David Plouffe. Photo by Pete Souza

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BREAKING: On Monday, @POTUS will release his #CleanPowerPlan—the biggest step we've ever taken to #ActOnClimate.https://t.co/BU1PF0wjUK

— White House Archived (@ObamaWhiteHouse) August 2, 2015

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William Saletan: Not Fit To Lead

If Republicans win the White House next year, they’ll almost certainly control the entire federal government. Many of them, running for president or aspiring to leadership roles in Congress, are trying to block the nuclear deal with Iran. This would be a good time for these leaders to show that they’re ready for the responsibilities of national security and foreign policy. Instead, they’re showing the opposite. Over the past several days, congressional hearings on the deal have become a spectacle of dishonesty, incomprehension, and inability to cope with the challenges of a multilateral world.

When the hearings began more than a week ago, I was planning to write about the testimony of Secretary of State John Kerry and Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz. But the more I watched, the more I saw that the danger in the room wasn’t coming from the deal or its administration proponents. It was coming from the interrogators. In challenging Kerry and Moniz, Republican senators and representatives offered no serious alternative. They misrepresented testimony, dismissed contrary evidence, and substituted vitriol for analysis. They seemed baffled by the idea of having to work and negotiate with other countries. I came away from the hearings dismayed by what the GOP has become in the Obama era. It seems utterly unprepared to govern.

More here

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Calif. women's prison once praised for mental health care has four women commit suicide in 18 months: http://t.co/UB6wyiNt1y

— The Associated Press (@AP) August 1, 2015

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Don Thompson: Suicide Spike Boosts Oversight Of California Women’s Prison

A spike in suicides and attempted suicides has prompted corrections officials to step up oversight at a California women’s prison as inspectors try to pinpoint the cause of the troubling increase. Four women have killed themselves at California Institution for Women in San Bernardino County in the last 18 months, according to state records. The suicide rate at the facility is more than eight times the national rate for female inmates and more than five times the rate for the entire California prison system.

In California, the Institution for Women is the only women’s prison in the state to have had any suicides in the last five years, and another 20 of the prison’s 2,000 inmates have attempted suicide during the last year and a half. It is a shocking turnaround at a facility that last year was cited as a rare example of California providing proper mental health treatment for inmates. All four women who died were receiving mental health treatment in the days before their deaths.

More here

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March to Washington begins with civil rights rally in Selma http://t.co/EVdelA57oo

— Reuters U.S. News (@ReutersUS) August 1, 2015

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Letitia Stein: March To Washington Begins With Civil Rights Rally In Selma

NAACP leaders launched a 40-day march across the U.S. South on Saturday with a rally in Selma, Alabama, drawing on that city’s significance in the 1960s civil rights movement to call attention to the issue of racial injustice in modern America. Organizers of “America’s Journey for Justice” want to build momentum behind a renewed national dialogue over race relations prompted by the killing of a number of unarmed black men by police officers over the past year.

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People leaders at the rally urged marchers to honor the memories of New York’s Eric Garner and Cincinnati’s Samuel DuBose, two of the unarmed black men killed in the police confrontations. The march, which would cover nearly 900 miles, began on Selma’s historic Edmund Pettus Bridge, where police beat peaceful marchers with clubs and doused them with tear gas in 1965. The infamous confrontation was a catalyst for the passage of the landmark Voting Rights Act, signed into law 50 years ago this week.

More here

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National Security Advisor Susan E. Rice helps Vice President Joe Biden with a spot on his suit jacket, in a hall outside the Oval Office, Aug. 2, 2013. Robert Cardillo, Deputy Director of National Intelligence for Intelligence Integration, watches at right. Photo by Pete Souza

President Barack Obama talks with diners at Lechonera El Barrio restaurant while waiting for his lunch order during a stop in Orlando, Fla., Aug. 2, 2012. Photo by Pete Souza

A Tweet Or Two

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Our march is not yet finished, but we're getting closer.http://t.co/uVWBvryy1E#Selma50 #MarchOn pic.twitter.com/zuydM04JB7

— White House Archived (@ObamaWhiteHouse) March 9, 2015

I traveled to Selma with John Lewis & 100 members of Congress. Here’s what I learned & saw http://t.co/Tt95t0clpr pic.twitter.com/3o0IZb630E

— Ari Berman (@AriBerman) March 9, 2015

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FACT: America has about 5 million job openings, more than at any point since 2001 → http://t.co/vVE7Dn2ivG #TechHire pic.twitter.com/PbH0mxJ5vm

— White House Archived (@ObamaWhiteHouse) March 9, 2015

Tomorrow, @ShaneSmith30 is sitting down with President Obama: http://t.co/VPkkist4XW #vicemeetsobama pic.twitter.com/dR3HkMrjKH

— VICE News (@VICENews) March 9, 2015

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Mae Jemison: First black women in space, went to college at 16yo & holds 9 doctorates #InternationalWomensDay pic.twitter.com/0rOQaQy8sO

— lil redd (@_Nxdin) March 8, 2015

Civil rights icon Diane Nash refused to march at #Selma50 because George W. Bush was there http://t.co/Tht8YoomHi pic.twitter.com/u6HNhjNG0K

— The Root (@TheRoot) March 9, 2015

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https://twitter.com/JamesBjames0303/status/575076394956259329

At UC Davis, SAE members went to a Take Back the Night march, called the women bitches and dykes, and spit on them. pic.twitter.com/t9VEwhqNCr

— A Shady Dame From Seville (@SorayaMcDonald) March 9, 2015

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Racist video not the first scandal for troubled fraternity http://t.co/L2ApJXkgwF

— TIME (@TIME) March 9, 2015

This is circulating: From several weeks ago, a Redditor shares similar SAE lyrics for Texas. http://t.co/5mNZvXyMXu pic.twitter.com/TWqsNsrERy

— Matt Pearce 🦅🇺🇸 (@mattdpearce) March 9, 2015

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https://twitter.com/ddiamond/status/574956093283131393

https://twitter.com/ddiamond/status/574955941956812800

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Wisconsin protesters fill Capitol over #TonyRobinson shooting; Madison Police Chief says 'I am sorry" http://t.co/DhCA1xfqBW now @latimes

— James Queally (@JamesQueallyLAT) March 9, 2015

Missouri seizes control of Ferguson's court system as judge who pushed aggressive fees policy resigns http://t.co/B2jdoj9HpJ

— Jon Swaine (@jonswaine) March 10, 2015

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Students take over OUR HOUSE #BlackLivesMatter #justice4tony #FergusonToMadison pic.twitter.com/4MsMcFbHGC

— Charity Schmidt (@MadtownCharity) March 9, 2015

100s enter Wisconsin Capitol to protest fatal police shooting of Tony Robinson. http://t.co/Y5csFQESJe - @LinzieJanis pic.twitter.com/DfTVjR81Vd

— World News Tonight (@ABCWorldNews) March 9, 2015

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The GOP truly is the party of the dumb

Just read smart Zarif response to Cotton letter to see Iranians understand process and law better than GOP senators. http://t.co/pxCgCc0qgB

— David Rothkopf (@djrothkopf) March 9, 2015

To Cotton-sticking Senate GOP: If Ds had done under a Republican POTUS what you did today, you would have been the first to cry "treason!"

— David Axelrod (@davidaxelrod) March 9, 2015

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Pete Souza: Selma

In Selma, the President greets former foot soldier Amelia Boynton Robinson, 103 years old, backstage before the ceremony

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See all of Pete Souza’s photos and his commentary from Selma here

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The President speaks to the foot soldiers who attended the 50th anniversary event.

The President hugs Yolanda Renee King, granddaughter of Martin Luther King, Jr., as her parents, Martin Luther King III and Andrea Waters look on

    

Rep. John Lewis holds hands with President Obama during a prayer at the ceremony.

A Tweet Or Two

Selma. Now and Then. #Selma50 pic.twitter.com/c1SDJaPDRp

— deray (@deray) March 8, 2015

My skull fractured, I spent 3 days in Good Samaritan, the same hospital where Jimmie Lee Jackson had died #Selma50 pic.twitter.com/W1lL4wepV6

— John Lewis (@repjohnlewis) March 8, 2015

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THIS photo of Obama and John Lewis in Selma yesterday. The long arc of 50 yrs ago bent toward his presidency. (WashP) pic.twitter.com/3bbNkWNKpu

— Trymaine Lee (@trymainelee) March 8, 2015

https://twitter.com/WesleyLowery/status/574414056687271937

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https://twitter.com/RichelleCarey/status/574358109013024769

Selma's children: The young marchers who could & did, 50 years ago. http://t.co/BdXWVOAW30 Photos via @theretronaut pic.twitter.com/uOqwILNMQD

— Jim Roberts (@nycjim) March 7, 2015

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Obama speaks out against voter ID laws as barrier to voting http://t.co/PeKigV16Iq pic.twitter.com/iw4HAxarBQ

— PBS NewsHour (@NewsHour) March 8, 2015

Colin Powell Has A Pretty Good Suggestion For Fixing Voter ID Laws http://t.co/wUIlzSCnGo via @HuffPostPol

— Donna NoShock (@NoShock) March 8, 2015

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Meet the #Selma freedom fighters who helped in the passing of the Voting Rights Act of 1965: http://t.co/YaYxGns1rB pic.twitter.com/4vUwSk4CrE

— BET (@BET) March 6, 2015

https://twitter.com/AP_Interactive/status/573533729940967426

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Mike Brown's family and friends have just emerged from Brown Chapel in Selma with their hands up, chanting. #Selma50 pic.twitter.com/xm8MgqoZv2

— Trymaine Lee (@trymainelee) March 8, 2015

The demonstrators in Selma were beaten but unbeatable. http://t.co/Trv1379if4 pic.twitter.com/AUR3croFyE

— New York Daily News (@NYDailyNews) March 8, 2015

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