Joanne Bland

Joanne Bland, born on July 29, 1953, in Selma, Alabama, is recognized as one of our great human rights activists and was one of the youngest persons jailed during the 1960s civil rights movement.

By the time she was 11 years old, Bland had been arrested at least 13 times, once for eight days serving time on a prison farm. As an educator, historian, and civil rights activist, she continues to travel the world, sharing her extraordinary experiences.

Bland is co-founder and director of the National Voting Rights Museum and Institute in Selma, Alabama, where she works to promote civil and human rights, and increased voter awareness.

During her lifetime, she has witnessed and participated in some of our nation’s most consequential civil rights battles. She began her civil rights activism in the early 1960s. The Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) activists arranged for Bland and other area children and teenagers to participate in the Civil Rights Movement.

In the front lines of the struggle, the young Bland marched on “Bloody Sunday,” witnessing brutal beatings of fellow marchers by police. “It’s the screams I remember the most – people just screaming and screaming and screaming.” “The last thing I remember seeing on the bridge that day is this lady and this horse. I don’t know if the horse ran over her, or if the officer on the horse hit her with the billy club, but I remember the sound of her head hitting that pavement – I’ll never forget it. It was too much for me. I fainted.”

She later marched on “Turn Around Tuesday” and the first leg of the successful March from Selma to Montgomery. Her early involvement in the struggle against “Jim Crow”, America’s apartheid, has been the foundation for her civil and human rights work throughout her life.

A much sought after speaker with a compelling personal story of civil rights activism, Bland has presented at conferences and workshops at the Smithsonian in Washington, DC and in 16 states throughout the country. Currently Bland is owner and operator of “Journeys For The Soul,” an agency that specializes in Civil Rights tours with a major focus on Selma, Alabama. Bland received her bachelor’s degree from the College of Staten Island and is a United States Army veteran.