March on Selma

This iconic image was taken at the March on Selma on March 21, 1965.  From far left: John Lewis, an unidentified nun, Ralph Abernathy, Martin Luther King, Jr., Ralph Bunche, Abraham Joshua Heschel, Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth.

After returning from Selma, Heschel wrote the following:

For many of us the march from Selma to Montgomery was about protest and prayer. Legs are not lips and walking is not kneeling. And yet our legs uttered songs. Even without words, our march was worship. I felt my legs were praying.

The last sentence became a rallying cry for many activists. It is sometimes misquoted as “praying with his feet.”

Additional Text

Jewish Voices from the Selma to Montgomery March

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