SELMA, Ala., March 5 (UPI) -- U.S. presidential hopefuls Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama marked Bloody Sunday in Selma, Ala., recalling its role in the civil rights movement.
Both senators spoke at separate church services in the city where 42 years ago, state troopers and sheriff's deputies beat civil rights activists. The two later joined for a march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge where the beatings occurred. Clinton, D-N.Y., was joined by her husband, former President Bill Clinton, marking the first time the Clintons have appeared together at a major event in the 2008 campaign, the Washington Post reported.
In his address, Obama, D-Ill., said the civil rights movement inspired his African father to move from Kenya to seek a U.S. education and eventually marry his white mother.
"If it hadn't been for Selma, I wouldn't be here," Obama said.
In her 20-minute speech, Clinton described the civil rights era as a gift.
"Today it is giving Senator Obama the chance to run for president," Clinton said. "And by its logic and spirit, it is giving the same chance to Governor Bill Richardson, a Hispanic, and yes, it is giving it to me."
