Why Lowndes County matters

One of the most important struggles of the civil rights movement occurred in rural Lowndes County, Alabama.

But most people have never heard of it.

As lifelong Lowndes resident Arthur Nelson explains in the new MSNBC documentary “Lowndes County and the Road to Black Power,” “You always hear ‘Selma-to-Montgomery,’” but the county where much of the iconic five-day civil rights march actually took place is mostly a footnote in America’s collective memory.

In 1965, in immediate aftermath of Bloody Sunday, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. led over 2,000 people from Selma to Montgomery to dramatize the determination of African Americans to vote. 

It is a march that looms large in stories about the civil rights movement. And it has been well documented in award-winning books and films, including “Selma,” directed by Ava Duvernay, a Lowndes descendant.

The march also figures prominently in our political discourse. Traveling to Selma on the anniversary of Bloody Sunday has become a rite of passage for Democratic presidents and presidential hopefuls. President Joe Biden was there just three weeks ago for the 58th anniversary celebration to express his commitment to voting rights.

Arthur Nelson calls Lowndes the “dash” in the Selma-to-Montgomery March. As such, it is easily overlooked. But in life, he says, the dash, which demarcates one’s journey from birth to death, is what’s most important. “That dash will make the difference.” 

Indeed, what transpired in Lowndes County during the civil rights era was nothing short of remarkable.  

Lowndes was close to 80% Black when the Selma-to-Montgomery march passed through, but not a single African American was registered to vote. Most were too afraid to even try because of the long, terrible history of racial violence.

But within a year, Black residents, working closely with Kwame Ture, né Stokely Carmichael, and a dedicated team of fellow Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) organizers, had created a radically democratic, all-Black, political party, the Lowndes County Freedom Party (LCFP). The LCFP, the original Black Panther Party, fielded a full slate of seven candidates in November 1966 in a bold bid to take control of the county government. SNCC organizers also introduced a powerful new slogan into the Black protest lexicon when they labeled their approach to politics “Black Power.” 

For more from Hasan, watch on “Lowndes County and the Road to Black Power,” Sunday at 10pm ET on MSNBC, and streaming on Peacock.

The transformation of Lowndes County from a citadel of violent white supremacy to the birthplace of Black Power inspired me to write “Bloody Lowndes: Civil Rights and Black Power in Alabama’s Black Belt.” But what I discovered while writing the book, and what is captured so powerfully in this new Lowndes County documentary, is what SNCC’s Kwame Ture learned while working in the county for over a year — that “Lowndes is not merely a section of land and a group of people, but an idea whose time has come.” And that idea of democratic possibility is arguably more relevant now than it has been at any point since Dr. King marched on Montgomery. 

At a time when one of the major political parties has been taken hostage by a cult of personality, the Lowndes movement reminds us that the needs of ordinary people should always be placed above the political concerns of parties and the personal interests of politicians. 

At a time when so much energy and so many resources are devoted to voter mobilization, the Lowndes movement reminds us of the fundamental importance of voter education. 

At a time when the Supreme Court has effectively nullified the 1965 Voting Rights Act and Republican controlled state legislatures have passed scores of voter suppression measures, the Lowndes movement reminds us that a healthy democracy makes it easier not harder for people to vote. 

And at a time when we could use some inspiration, because Black voting rights — and Black people — are under attack, the Lowndes movement reminds us of the courage and determination of everyday people like Lillian McGill-Bogarty, whose indomitable spirit shines brightly in the film. 

The Lowndes movement embodies the kind of small-d democratic politics we desperately need today. 

It is an idea whose time has come, again.