Thousands gathered Sunday at the foot of the Edmund Pettus Bridge to hear lawmakers’ words of encouragement. Among these lawmakers were Congresswoman Terri Sewell and Congressman Shomari Figures, who says seeing all these people in Selma on the anniversary weekend of Bloody Sunday gives him hope.

In 1965, activists started a march from Selma to Montgomery to demonstrate the right to vote. However, as they were crossing the bridge, they were attacked by law enforcement.

The population of the small historic town of Selma, Alabama swells once a year as people from around the nation flock to its downtown, its churches before finally gathering for the crescendo event -- walking across the Edmund Pettus Bridge.

Hundreds of people rallied at the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, to mark 60 years since " Bloody Sunday ," when authorities beat peaceful protesters who were marching against race discrimination in voting.

Charles Mauldin was near the front of a line of voting rights marchers walking in pairs across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama on March 7, 1965.

Worried about the future, marchers crossed the Edmund Pettis Bridge on Sunday in the 60th commemoration of one of the most shocking days of the 1960s movement.

A person takes a photo of the march over the Edmund Pettus bridge during the 60th anniversary of the march to ensure that African Americans could exercise their constitutional right to vote, Sunday, March 9,

Hundreds gathered on Sunday in Selma, Alabama, to mark the 60th anniversary of "Bloody Sunday," when a group of peaceful demonstrators marched for African Americans' voting rights and were brutally beaten by police.