NOMAS-Boston Selma March

NOMAS-Boston attended the reenactment of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s historic 1965 march from Roxbury to Boston Common on October 30, 2005. NOMAS-Boston's decision to attend was predicated on our organization's mission to build bridges between groups within a larger social justice framework. Despite our intentions of bridge building, we were disallowed from carrying our banner due to mixed messages from the march organizers concerning both the banner's content (which displays our organizational tenets) and its nonspecificity about voting rights. While disappointed with the march organizer's decision discouraging us to display our banner, in the moment and in retrospect we recognized that such was emblematic of larger dynamics that have historically worked to distance supposedly "differing" social justice communities. We are hopeful that members of NOMAS-Boston will take our experience at the SELMA march in stride as we continue to forge meaningful organizational and personal connections with fellow social justice allies.