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This upcoming weekend is an emotional one because it marks the 50th anniversary of the iconic and groundbreaking marches from Selma to Montgomery in Alabama. Initiated in 1963 because Black people were denied their right to vote, activists and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. bravely marched for equality until 1965, a historic year in which the awful Bloody Sunday incident occurred.

From Thursday March 5 to Sunday March 8, MSNBC will headline “Selma 50 coverage” with Twitter chats, commemorative programs and airings of original news footage. MSNBC’s specials lead up to the celebratory events on Sunday where The First Family will walk across Edmund Pettus Bridge and President Obama plans to speak for the occasion.

MUST READ: Selma’s Youngest Marcher, Lynda Blackmon Lowery Reveals What It Was Like To Change The World As A Teen

MSNBC’s Selma: 50 Years Later weekend is also the name of their original in-depth specials. Hosts of the news channel, like Melissa Harris-Perry, will tape their shows live from local landmarks of the era such as Brown Chapel where influential Civil Rights youth group SCLC had held their meetings.

All news networks on Saturday, March 7 are tentatively scheduled to air the Selma 50th anniversary commemoration and it’s going to be a massive event. In the vicinity will be Alabama locals and visitors, the Obamas, former President George W. Bush, and both Democratic and Republican members of Congress to show their gratitude to the Civil Rights movement. President Obama will speak at the Edmund Pettus Bridge and activists who marched then, like today’s U.S. Rep. John Lewis, will also be present. The cast of 2014 film Selma may attend on Sunday too.

To join the conversation on Twitter, on Thursday, March 5 at 11 a.m. EST, Russell Simmons is conducting the first installment. The second on Friday, March 6 at 12 p.m. EST., the founders of #BlackLivesMatters Patrisse Cullors, Alicia Garza, and Opal Tometi will lead.

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