NY Hudson Valley/Capital Region’s Ruthie Rueda and Kevin Williams are both members of 1199’s Purple Gold Caucus, the current generation of union members who are 35-years-old and under, working to more actively involve younger members in the labor movement. As a part of that effort, they joined thousands of civil rights advocates of all ages on last week’s Selma-to-Montgomery March in Alabama.

The five-day march from Selma to the Alabama state capitol in Montgomery honors the historic footsteps taken on "Bloody Sunday" in March 1965. Forty-seven years ago, African American citizens fighting for their civil rights were assaulted by state troopers and local sheriff's deputies after crossing Selma's Edmund Pettus Bridge.

Rueda and Williams connected with the marchers at a rally at the Capitol in Montgomery, on March 8. “I am so proud to be here making history. It is sad that so many decades later we are still facing bigotry and racism,” Rueda said. “I am reminded that we can never give up our fight for civil rights and justice for immigrants, voters and workers. I feel like I am looking backward and moving forward at the same time."

This year, the marchers demanded voting rights and repeal of Alabama's anti-immigrant law. That law, HB 56, targets Latinos and immigrant populations for harassment and arrest. It is enforced by racial profiling: anyone who "looks foreign" is a target. The law is wreaking havoc on the state's economy. Estimates are that the state loses a million dollars in revenue every day it is enforced.

Meanwhile, across the country, voter suppression laws are making it increasingly harder for people of all backgrounds -- particularly minorities -- to participate in the democratic process.

The marchers grew in numbers as the days went by. In the beginning, the majority were union members from across the country, with their friends, families and supporters. Along the way, members of Alabama's immigrant communities joined. many said they heard about the event on Latino radio stations.