If asked what I consider to be a defining moment of the 20th century, I would have to say that it was the moment on the Edmund Pettus bridge in 1965 that led to the historic passing of the Voting Rights Act in 1965.

Remember the 1964 Mississippi Summer Project!

We strongly condemn the June 25 decision by the Supreme Court of the U.S. to gut the heart of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. On a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court struck down the requirement that seven southern and southwestern states have to get federal government approval for changes in their election practices. Such approval was to make sure that the changes do not prevent African American and Chicano voters from full participation in elections.