*The NAACP is spearheading an effort to shine a light on civil rights by sponsoring a group of civil rights activists who are taking “America’s Journey to Justice” from Selma, Ala., to Washington D.C.
Essence reports, the group left Selma on Saturday (Aug. 1) on the trip, which will take them 40 days and 40 nights to complete. At the end of the 860-mile march, a rally will be held in front of the Capitol.
Reaction to the first leg of the trek has been noticeable, with it attracting more than 200 demonstrators. For Quincy Bates, the motivation for the trip is much bigger than he or the group he’s traveling with.
“We’re marching for our lives, our votes, our jobs, our schools,” the NAACP Southwestern Region Organizer told NBC News. “We’re demanding real policy reform, and we need support from everyone in our country.”
As the trip continues, Essence mentioned that demonstrators plan to visit local schools and churches at planned stops in Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia. Through the visits, the group aims to educate citizens on criminal justice and education issues.
“This allows for the space for us to have some more conversations about the individuals that we don’t know outside of the Mike Browns and Trayvon Martins,” Erin Gaddis, president of the Texas NAACP Youth and College Division, explained to NBC News.
In addition to discussing criminal justice and education issues, the group’s primary goals include efforts to fully restore the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which was created to prohibiting racial discrimination in voting. In recent years, the law has taken a hit as it has been stripped to allow states to alter voting regulations potentially enable discrimination without federal approval.
“We are being attacked,” Bates said. “Our conscious has been heightened because of the different criminal injustices that we’ve been experiencing. It’s the perfect time to let them know that we will not stand for these different injustices in our community.”
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