About 600 voting rights demonstrators attempted to march across the bridge on the way to the state capital, and were attacked by armed law enforcement personnel. The confrontation came to be known Bloody Sunday.
Tillman stressed a handful of lessons she learned throughout her career fighting for civil rights, including the need to focus on specific policies or issues rather than attacking opponents personally.
“March, but fight the injustice and not the person, because hatred is dangerous,” Tillman said.
Tillman joined the SCLC as a trainee and field staff organizer in 1963. King later sent her to Chicago where she campaigned for improved housing, education and employment conditions. She and her husband Jimmy Lee Tillman later moved to San Francisco, where she became involved in a successful fight to improve public transportation services for residents there.
On Monday, she urged Wittenberg students to research King’s six principles and steps of nonviolence to deal with issues facing local communities today. She also argued activists must have a specific goal in mind and be willing to reach out to opponents. Tillman said she believed she might die on the bridge on Bloody Sunday, but believed in the movement strongly enough it was worth the risk.
“I love nonviolence because I know it works,” Tillman said. “I’ve seen it work.”
One challenge she said facing many communities now is there are people who are willing to work for change, but there’s not always a clear goal of what they hope to accomplish, she said.
“Young people want to get involved, but there’s not always a clear direction to take them in,” Tillman said.
Margaret Rose Murray, of Raleigh, N.C., was visiting family in Springfield and attended Monday’s ceremony. She was born in 1931 and will never forget the challenges her generation faced. Events like Monday’s ceremony at Wittenberg are important to pass those lessons on to future generations, she said.
“It’s important that all of our children know this history,” Murray said.
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