In Selma, Following in the Footsteps of Masons Before THem

On March 7, 1965, more than 600 peaceful demonstrators crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, as part of a planned 54-mile march to Montgomery in support of Black voting rights. On the other side of the bridge, they were met by a wall of state troopers, who assaulted them with tear gas and billy clubs—footage of which was so horrifying that the clash came to be known as Bloody Sunday. This spring, 60 years later, nearly 2,000 Prince Hall Masons retraced those marchers’ footsteps to highlight how far is left to go in the quest for justice and equality.

While the original march wasn’t organized by Prince Hall Masons, it was a seminal event in the organization’s history, explains Aaron Washington, deputy grand master of the Prince Hall Grand Lodge of California. “Prince Hall Masonry has always been part of the civil-rights movement in America,” says Washington, who was among 70 California Prince Hall Masons and Eastern Star members at the event. “Back then, we crossed as individuals. Now we’re crossing together as Masons.”

The sight of so many Masons in regalia marching arm in arm was especially powerful for Washington, who attended college in Alabama and is deeply connected to the fraternity’s history. It was also an emotional experience for Sean Metroka, past grand master of the Grand Lodge of California, who participated at the invitation of Prince Hall leadership in Alabama. Says Metroka, “My experience in Alabama has led me to question all I thought I knew about civil rights and the struggles of African Americans—and all nonwhite citizens—in this country,” he says.

For Washington and others, the march helped bridge the past and present. “You feel a sense of pride, but also a solemnness,” he says. “You feel unified, together, connected, interwoven. If a Mason ever wants to experience a real brotherhood event, that’s the one.”