WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) – Vice President Kamala Harris and members of Congress are among those who will travel to Alabama this weekend to mark the anniversary of “Bloody Sunday.”

It’s been 59 years since white state troopers attacked Black voting rights marchers as they crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, the beginning of a planned march to the state capitol.

Rep. Terri Sewell (D-Ala.) grew up in Selma and represents the city in Congress. One of her mentors, the late Congressman John Lewis, was one of the march’s leaders.

“John was bludgeoned on a bridge for the right of all of us to vote,” Sewell said.

“Black history is American history,” Sewell continued. “I have a deep, abiding understanding of how ordinary Americans can bring about extraordinary social change.”

The White House said Vice President Harris will join Sewell on the bridge Sunday to talk about how voting rights are still at stake.

“Encourage Americans to continue the fight for fundamental freedoms,” said White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.

The actual date of “Bloody Sunday” is March 7, the same day as this year’s State of the Union address.

Jean-Pierre would not preview President Joe Biden’s speech, but said, “he continues to call for Congress to take action here on voting rights.”

Sewell hopes the president’s and vice president’s messages motivate young voters in particular to participate in this year’s election.

“When we vote, we win as a nation,” she said.

Senator Katie Britt (R-Ala.) will give the Republican rebuttal to the president’s State of the Union address Thursday.