Illustrated Memoir Recalls Marching In Selma At Just 15

Transcript

ARUN RATH, HOST:

And yesterday in Selma, President Obama praised the bravery of those who marched for voting rights on that day 50 years ago.

(SOUNDBITE OF SPEECH)

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: We gather here to celebrate them. We gather here to honor the courage of ordinary Americans willing to indoor billy clubs and the chastening rod, tear gas and the trampling hoof - men and women who despite the gush of blood and splintered bone would stay true to their north star and keep marching towards justice.

RATH: Lynda Blackmon Lowery was there on Bloody Sunday. I sat down with her earlier this year to talk about her memoir for young adults "Turning 15 On The Road To Freedom."

LYNDA BLACKMON LOWERY: On Bloody Sunday, I was very near - very near the front. I was, like, in the 19th line from the front. When we got to the crest of the bridge - the top of the bridge, and we saw all these men in blue, that was the Alabama State Troopers. We saw the sheriff, Jim Clark, and his deputies, and we saw his posse. They were on horseback.

I really wasn't afraid that day until we got down there, all the way to the state troopers, and they said we were an illegal assembly, and we had to disburse. And I heard this pop-pop sound. Later, I found out it was tear gas. And I remember I couldn't breathe, and I was scared.

I was on my knees, and somebody grabbed the back of my collar - coat - and started pulling me backwards. And I guess I was resisting because they grabbed the front of my lapel, and I bit the hand that was on the front of the lapel. And I heard that horrible N-word, and I felt him hit me twice. I ended up with seven stitches over my right eye - I still have that scar - and 28 stitches in the back of my head. And I still have a knot in the back of my head from that.

RATH: And then two weeks later, when there is the march that leaves from Selma that does finally make it to the capital, you want to be a part of that because you want to show Governor Wallace what he did to you.

LOWERY: I was 14. I wasn't a threat to anybody. There was really about 3,200 people that left Selma on that march that day, but only 300 were allowed to walk all the way from Selma to Montgomery. And I was among that 300. I was terrified, but I also knew that if I did not embrace this fear or take this fear and - it would one day own me.

RATH: Lynda, this is a book aimed at young readers, and I'm wondering what the thinking is behind that. What you want young people to take away from this story?

LOWERY: I would like for young people to know that each day of your life is a journey into history and that you're making that history. And you have the ability to change something each day of your life. Believe it or not, people, it can't happen without you.

RATH: Lynda Blackmon Lowery was the youngest person to take part in the entire march from Selma to Montgomery. Her new book is "Turning 15 On The Road To Freedom: My Story Of The 1965 Selma Voting Rights March." Lynda, you're an inspiration. Thank you so much.

LOWERY: Thank you for having me. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.