Alabama

Selma Mayor Darrio Melton said Saturday that he was wary about naming the bridge for one person. Many activists, such as Selma resident Amelia Boynton, who was beaten into unconsciousness during Bloody Sunday, played a role in the events before and after the protest.

"What they exemplified for us was the system needed to be changed, more than the symbols needed to be changed," he said. "I believe to get bogged down in a conversation about symbols is to miss the entire struggle for which they fought. They weren’t marching to change a symbol. They were marching to change a system."