Civil rights activist portrayed in ‘Selma’ to attend State of the Union

Rep. Terri Sewell (D-Ala.) announced Monday that she will bring Amelia Boynton, who participated in the civil rights movement, to Tuesday’s State of the Union.

Boynton, 103, was portrayed by actress Lorraine Toussaint in the film “Selma,” which was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture. She helped organize the march from Selma to Montgomery along the Edmund Pettus Bridge, a day later known as “Bloody Sunday.”

{mosads}”Ms. Boynton suffered grave injustices on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma at the hands of state troopers on Bloody Sunday, yet she refused to be intimidated,” Sewell said in a statement. “She marched with Dr. Martin Luther King, my colleague Rep. John Lewis and thousands of others from Selma to Montgomery and ultimately witnessed the day when their work led to the passage of the historic Voting Rights Act of 1965.”

Sewell, the only African-American member of the Alabama delegation, said she hopes Boynton’s presence will call attention to the issue of race relations at Tuesday’s speech.

“I hope her presence at the State of the Union reminds all of us about the importance of voting and sacrifices brave Americans like Amelia Boynton endured so this nation could live up to the ideals of equality and justice for all,” Sewell said.