ATLANTA – State Representative Calvin Smyre (D-Columbus) will participate in the 50th Anniversary of “Bloody Sunday” to commemorate the anniversary of the Selma to Montgomery March and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The commemoration will take place March 6 – 8 in Selma, Alabama.
“Going to Selma to commemorate the 50th Anniversary will be an emotional moment for me,” said Rep. Smyre. “I have been able to serve in public office for the last 41 years because of those that participated in the 1965 event where peaceful protestors were brutalized on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma. It is those warriors whose shoulders I stand on as a black elected official in our struggle for the right to vote. The theme of the 50th Anniversary, ‘Remember, Recommit, Restore,’ is very appropriate for the time in which we live.”
Rep. Smyre will attend a welcome reception honoring the National Black Caucus State Legislators President, Maryland State Senator Catherine Pugh. He will also participate in the events surrounding the visit of President Barack Obama, the Pre-March Rally at Brown Chapel AME Church, and the Edmund Pettus Bridge Re-enactment.
Rep. Smyre, Chairman Emeritus of the Georgia House Democratic Caucus and Dean of the Georgia House of Representatives, is the longest serving member of the Georgia General Assembly with 41 years of service.
Representative Calvin Smyre represents the citizens of District 135, which includes portions of Muscogee County. He was elected into the House of Representatives in 1974, currently serves on the Appropriations, Higher Education, and Rules committees. Rep. Smyre can be reached at 706-326-3888, or calvinsmyre@gmail.com.
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