On the voting rights trail, bus riders to Montgomery retrace old steps while fighting a new fight

A group of people ride a coach bus
Voting rights and democracy activists ride together from Atlanta to Montgomery, Ala., on Saturday, May 16, 2026, for a rally against efforts by Republican legislative majorities to reduce Black representation in Congress from Southern states. (AP Photo/Bill Barrow)

 In 1965, Black Americans peacefully demonstrated for voting rights and were beaten by Alabama state troopers before returning two weeks later to complete their march under federal protection. Keith Odom was a toddler then.

Now 62 years old, the union man and grandfather of three retraced some of their final steps. On Saturday, he came from Aiken, South Carolina, to Atlanta, where he joined several dozen other activists on two buses to Montgomery, Alabama. A few hours later, he stepped off his bus and onto Dexter Avenue, where the original march concluded.

“The history here — being a part of it, seeing it, feeling it,” said Odom, who is Black.