TACOMA, Wash. — As they stepped onto the 11th Street Bridge, hundreds of South Puget Sound residents -- banners and signs in hand -- embarked on a symbolic march to commemorate the one 50 years ago that ended in bloodshed.
As they shouted "Tacoma Stands with Selma," the 2100 miles between Tacoma and Selma, Alabama, seemed to melt away.
"Not a long ways by heart, though," said Clemencia Castro-Woolery, a lawyer from Lakewood. "We have some friends that are actually over there marching right now. So we're supporting them."
"I remember the whole civil rights movement," said her husband, Rick Woolery. "I was very knowledgeable and interested and wanted to know about it. So it was a big part of my life growing up."
For Corrie Rosasharn, the march is a hopeful sign for her biracial children.
“Definitely by the time they're teenagers, I hope that things will have improved," said Rosasharn. "And I don't have to be so concerned for them growing up."
The idea for the march came just a few days ago.
In fact, the initial plan was to cross the Narrows Bridge.
But organizers settled on the less lofty 11th Street Bridge and a rally in the shadow of Tacoma's downtown.
Among those in attendance were Tacoma's civil rights pioneers, including its first black mayor.
"What I'm looking at is a solid future of people who really care," said Harold Moss, to loud applause. "Who really got the memo, who really understand that we are one people."
But Moss told the crowd that will be assured only if everyone votes.
After all, that is what they were marching for 50 years ago.
KIRO
