Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ), two leading 2020 Democratic presidential candidates, will join failed 2016 Democratic nominee Hillary Rodham Clinton in Alabama in the coming week.
Organizers of the Selma Bridge Crossing Jubilee have confirmed that Sanders and Booker will also attend the annual event, which will span January 28 – March 4. The two senators are scheduled to speak at separate events commemorating Bloody Sunday. Booker will deliver an address at Brown Chapel AME Church, while Sanders is set to speak at the Martin and Coretta King Unity Breakfast.
Former State Senator Hank Sanders (D-Selma) released a statement calling Bernie Sanders “a unique figure in the American electoral landscape.”
“We look forward to his speaking at the Annual Martin and Coretta King Unity Breakfast in Selma this year. He will join other presidential candidates, some of whom have already been announced. We look forward to each and every candidate sharing their visions with people from all over the nation and beyond,” he added.
It’s difficult to say how honored I am to be speaking at Brown Chapel in commemoration of Bloody Sunday. We’re forever indebted to those who gathered in Selma to march on the frontlines for justice. https://t.co/qROCv7S9fD
— Cory Booker (@CoryBooker) February 22, 2019
“Cory Booker has dedicated his professional life to paying forward the deeds and sacrifices of the Selma generation,” Leodis Strong, pastor at Brown Chapel, said in a statement. “When so many of our leaders traffic in the currencies of fear and division, Sen. Booker’s message of love and courageous empathy is precisely what we need to hear as we tackle the challenges that our generation must now confront.”
Two other, albeit less well known, 2020 presidential candidates are scheduled to attend. According to event organizers, Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and former Obama administration Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Julian Castro committed earlier this year to speak at the Sunday unity breakfast.
This comes after organizers earlier in February confirmed Clinton will attend multiple events over the course of the weekend and be honored with the “International Unity Award.”
Democracy should mean free and fair access to the ballot box. But in America, voting rights are under attack. I’m honored to have been invited to join the 54th Bridge Crossing Jubilee in Selma, Alabama on March 3rd to march for voting rights with @liftourvote. #liftourvote2020
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) February 15, 2019
According to The Selma Times-Journal, Hank Sanders said that MSNBC will have reporters on scene at the jubilee throughout the weekend.
Sean Ross is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @sean_yhn
