Civil rights protesters, some carrying American flags, marching from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, USA in 1965. The Selma to Montgomery March was a march from Selma, Alabama to Alabama's state capital, Montgomery, protesting against Southern states that blocked black voters right to vote. The march was led by American activist and Baptist minister Martin Luther King Jr. In the same year, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act, preventing barriers in place to prevent African Americans from voting.