the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist
“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx
the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist
“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx
March 2, 2026
At the age of 11, Jo Ann Bland was at a protest march in 1965 from Selma, Alabama to the Montgomery state capitol. The march came to be known as “Bloody Sunday.” Alabama State Police viciously beat hundreds of demonstrators. Film footage was shown on the national news, and it shocked viewers. Jo Ann dedicated her life to teaching the youth this history. She died on February 19 at her home in Selma.
Jo Ann lost her mother at birth from the lack of a blood transfusion. Deadly segregation laws of that era forbid hospitals from transfusing “white” blood to a dying black mother!
In 1965, on Bloody Sunday, Jo Ann saw that when children ran from the protest to gather at a nearby church, state police followed, into the church. Jo Ann saw law enforcement hoist a child above their heads and throw him into the Baptismal Font. Jo Ann said, “What happened at that bridge didn’t stop at that bridge. It happened out here all night long.” Referring to her work with youth, Jo Ann said, “I kick it plain.… I don’t use language like, ‘They gave their lives’—they didn’t give anything, they were murdered.”