Icons of 1960s civil rights movement voice cautious optimism

Full Screen
1 / 18

Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

FILE - In this March 1, 1965 file photo Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. hops over a puddle as it rains in Selma, Ala. King led hundreds of African Americans to the court house in a voter registration drive. At front is civil rights worker Andrew Young, and at right, behind King is Rev. Ralph Abernathy. Today's protests across America against racial injustice are being watched closely by people who five decades ago faced jail cells, bloody assaults, snarling dogs and even potential assassination in the battle against institutional racism. Young, a King lieutenant, marvels at both the sizes and the spontaneity of the protests. The former Democratic congressman, Atlanta mayor and United Nations ambassador recalled activists spending three months to organize for a 1963 Birmingham, Alabama, campaign in which King and other protesters were jailed. (AP Photo, File)