Ryder Strong

We open with gospel music and established shots of Alabama, focusing mostly on the Edmund Pettus Bridge.

We find ourselves in a black neighborhood in what is easily identifiable as the 1960s.

We see the harsh signs of the time, a white and colored water fountain, a white's only bus benches, and segregated businesses.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

is being driven around and shown the area with hopes that Selma can be a place where blacks and whites will eventually live together.

Now to school during recess, we see Cheyenne jump roping with her friend Rachel.

Across the street at a church, people are lined up and applauding the arrival of Dr. King.

Cheyenne can't believe he's going to be in Selma.

She wrote a report on him in school.

She has to go see him.

The bell rings, but instead of returning to class, Cheyenne walks right to the church.

Reverend Reese is speaking to the congregation about the importance of equality, and he's thrilled that help has come in the form of Dr. Martin Luther King.

Dr. King is happy to be in Selma and will help send a powerful message to change America.

With Black people making up 50% of Selma's population, they need more than the 2% registered to vote.

Cheyenne tries to sneak into a pew, but everyone notices her.

They tell her it's an adult meeting.

She isn't allowed to join.

She explains she just wants to see Dr. King, and if her dad finds out she skipped school, he's going to be furious.

And that's when Dr. King calls her to the front of the church.

She nervously pulls out her report and asks him to sign it.