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Malia & Sasha Obama

Saul Loeb/Getty

First daughters Malia (pictured left) and Sasha Obama weren’t in Selma, Al attending the 50th anniversary ceremony of Bloody Sunday as a family obligation for their father, President Barack Obama.  The teens were there for an important history lesson being taught by their dad regarding the civil rights movement. Mr. Obama paid homage to the living and fallen civil rights leaders, by marching across the Edmund Pettus Bridge with his family after he gave a speech discussing how far blacks have come and how much more needed to be done after the events on March 7, 1965 took place.  Over 600 people protested for blacks to obtain voting rights by attempting to cross over the bridge. Participants were beaten with night sticks, were tear gassed and had dogs unleashed on them by police officers, who prevented them from going to the other side of the bridge.

MUST READ: President Obama Touches Upon Ferguson While Commemorating 50th Anniversary Of ‘Bloody Sunday’ March In Selma (VIDEO)

According to the Associated Press, Mr. Obama brought his daughters to Selma, to “remind them of their own obligations” to continue to fight for civil rights in America. Last month during a Black History Month observance event at the White House, Mr. Obama stated things still needed to be done and revealed his daughters will continue on and hoped generations to come will join the cause as well. Mr. Obama remarked:

There are going to be marches for them to march, and struggles for them to fight. And if we’ve done our job, then that next generation is going to be picking up the torch, as well.

Earlier in the week, Mr. Obama spoke with Tom Joyner for an exclusive radio interview where he explained he advised both Malia and Sasha although situations from the 60s have improved tremendously, issues still remained. Mr. Obama referred to the police-involved shootings which took place last year in Staten Island, Ny and Ferguson, Mo, where white police officers killed unarmed black men and weren’t charged with any crimes. Mr. Obama stated:

Part of what I want Malia and Sasha to understand is that this is an unfinished project. There is, you know, work to be done right now. And I say to my daughters the same thing I say to the young people who work for me, and that is it is a glorious task that we are given to continually try to improve this great country of ours. And we shouldn’t shy away from that work and we shouldn’t be complacent about it. And everybody’s got to find their own way to do it.

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