Selma Stars Honour Martin Luther King

"Selma" director Ava DuVernay, rapper Common and best-actor nominee David Oyelowo, who portrays Dr. King in the movie, also participated in the day-long event that commemorates King's civil rights leadership.

"Selma" and the march commemorated the 50th anniversary of the campaign leading up to the historic march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, and the subsequent passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act.

Law enforcement officers used clubs and tear gas on March 7, 1965 to try and stop marchers from walking some 50 miles to Montgomery, to seek the right for blacks to register to vote. A new march, led by Martin Luther King Jr., began March 21 of that year and arrived in Montgomery days later with a crowd of 25,000.

Sunday's group walked to the Edmund Pettis Bridge, where the 1965 march began.

Winfrey is a producer of the movie and portrays civil rights activist Annie Lee Cooper.

"Incredible things happened here. And this place deserves to move forward, to be blessed. So, I would just love to pray for Selma now: Heavenly Father I bless this place. I pray that your grace and your mercy will rain down upon it. I thank you for Dr. King but I thank you for the movement," said Oyelowo.

By Tom Omulo

Source: Reuters, Sky News