The Rev. C.D. Witherspoon, president of the Baltimore chapter of the Student Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), was awarded the Freedom Flame at the March 8 Jubilee to commemorate Bloody Sunday, the Selma to Montgomery March and the passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act.
Honoring the work of Movement leaders past, this year’s award also went to Lou Gossett Jr., former Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin and veteran activists Charles and Shirley Sherrod. Rev. Witherspoon recognized for his “lifelong work for civil rights” and was also awarded the key to the city by Selma’s mayor.