Rare Video Footage of Historic Alabama 1965 Civil Rights Marches, MLK's Famous Montgomery Speech

To see much more from the film, "King: A Filmed Record," on Democracy Now!, visit owl.li/i1B3S. In a Black History Month special, Democracy Now! airs excerpts of the 1970 documentary, "King: A Filmed Record... Montgomery to Memphis," a rarely seen Oscar-nominated feature about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the rise of the civil rights movement. This clip shows scenes from the three historic marches from Selma to the capital Montgomery. The first took place March 7, 1965, and became known as "Bloody Sunday" after police attacked 600 marchers with billy clubs and tear gas. The second march came the following Tuesday, attracting more than 2,500 protesters, who were forced to turn around by police after crossing the Edmund Pettus Bridge. We hear from Dr. King as he successfully crosses the bridge along with thousands of others on the third march, under the watch of federal troops mobilized by President Johnson. Finally, we will hear Dr. King's address in the capital of Montgomery, where the march triumphantly ends.
REV. DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.: We have the right to walk the highway. We have the right to walk to Montgomery if our feet can get us there. We must let the nation know and we must let the world know that it is necessary to protest this threefold evil: the problem of the denial of the right to vote to police brutality-that we continue to face and faced in its most vicious form last Sunday-and then the attempt to block First Amendment privileges.
REPORTER: How do you feel about the protection being given you on this march?
REV. DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.: I think this is a real demonstration of the commitment of the federal government to protect the constitutional rights of Negro citizens. The protection has been a very thorough, as you can see. And the men are working under the guidance, and certainly under the power and influence, of the federal government to see that things are carried out in an orderly manner. So I think that everybody has to recognize that this symbolizes a new commitment and a new determination on the part of the federal government to take the kind of vigorous line that will assure the rights of the Negro citizens of this nation.
REPORTER: Dr. King, how are things shaping up now for tomorrow?
REV. DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.: Things are shaping up beautifully. We have people coming in from all over the country. I suspect that we will have representatives from almost every state in the union, and naturally a large number of people from the state of Alabama. And we hope to see, and we plan to see, the greatest witness for freedom ever taken place-that has ever taken place on the steps of a capitol of any state in the South. And this whole march adds drama to this total thrust.
Last Sunday, more than 8,000 of us started on a mighty walk from Selma, Alabama. They told us we wouldn't get here. There were those who said that we would get here on their-over their dead bodies. But all the world today knows that we are here, and we are standing before the forces of power in the state of Alabama, saying, "We ain't going to let nobody turn us around."
Today I want to tell the city of Selma, today I want to say to the state of Alabama, today I want to say to the people of America and the nations of the world, that we are not about to turn around. We are on the move now. Yes, we are on the move, and no wave of racism can stop us. The burning of our churches will not deter us. The bombing of our homes will not dissuade us. The beating and killing of our clergymen and young people will not divert us. The wanton release of their known murderers will not discourage us. We are on the move now. Like an idea whose time has come, not even the marching of mighty armies can halt us. We are moving to the land of freedom."
To read the complete transcript and to see much more from the film, "King: A Filmed Record," on Democracy Now!, visit owl.li/i1B3S.
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