Black Church Leaders March in Selma to Protest Supreme Court Voting Rights Ruling

Black church leaders led a rally and march in Selma and Montgomery, Alabama, on May 16, 2026, to protest a recent Supreme Court ruling that significantly weakened a key provision of the 1965 Voting Rights Act.

The Supreme Court's 6-3 decision in Louisiana v. Callais declared Louisiana's attempt to create a second Black-majority congressional district unconstitutional. Justice Samuel Alito's majority opinion questioned whether compliance with the Voting Rights Act's second section justified intentionally considering race in district drawing.

Organizers called the event "All Roads Lead to the South." They expected approximately 5,000 attendees and 75 buses of activists from Georgia, Tennessee, and Mississippi. Satellite events were planned in Philadelphia, Harrisburg, and Poughkeepsie, New York.

The Rev. Bernice A. King, daughter of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., described the ruling as a "shameless assault on Black political power." She said the decision would ignite further mobilization among voting rights activists.

The event began with a prayer service at Selma's Historic Tabernacle Baptist Church, which hosted the first massive voting rights meeting in 1963. Participants then marched silently across the Edmund Pettus Bridge toward the Alabama State Capitol in Montgomery.

Organizations leading the effort included Black Voters Matter, the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation, and the NAACP's Legal Defense Fund.

The Rev. Cece Jones-Davis, a Virginia-based activist, said starting the rally with prayer at these historic locations placed the civil rights journey within the tradition of past champions. "We will meet the moment and do what's necessary," she said.

Religion News Service reported that the march drew participants from more than 20 states.