Jimmie Lee Jackson (December 16, 1938 – February 26, 1965)[1][2] was an African American civil rights activist in Marion, Alabama, and a deacon in the Baptist church.

This enabled millions of African Americans to vote again in Alabama and across the Southern United States, regaining participation as citizens in the political system for the first time since the turn of the 20th century.

[3] In 2005, former Alabama State Trooper James Bonard Fowler admitted that he had shot Jackson, in what he said was self-defense soon after street lights had gone out and a melee had broken out.

[4] Jackson had tried to register to vote for four years, without success, under the discriminatory system maintained by Alabama officials since the turn of the 20th century.

[4] Jackson was inspired by Martin Luther King Jr., who had come with other Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) staff to nearby Selma, Alabama, to help local activists in their voter registration campaign.

On the night of February 18, 1965, about 500 people who were organized by the SCLC activist C. T. Vivian left Zion United Methodist Church in Marion and attempted a peaceful walk to the Perry County jail, about a half a block away, where young civil-rights worker James Orange was being held.

[3] The wounded Jackson left the café, suffering additional blows by the police, and collapsed in front of the bus station.

[7] In the presence of FBI officials at the hospital, Jackson told lawyer Oscar Adams, of Birmingham, that he was "clubbed down" by state troopers after he was shot and had escaped from the café.

[10] Before his death, Jackson was served with an arrest warrant by Col. Al Lingo, head of the Alabama State Police.

The Alabama State Senate responded to national criticism and "formally denounced charges of dereliction by Lingo's Troopers in Marion.

[3][7] Dr. Dinkins believed that Jackson died as a result of an overdose of anesthesia after a white attending surgeon decided to conduct a second surgery.

[12] Sister Michael Anne, an administrator at the hospital, later said there were powder burns on Jackson's abdomen, indicating that he was shot at very close range.

Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke at one, saying, Jimmie Lee Jackson’s death says to us that we must work passionately and unrelentingly to make the American dream a reality.

[3] The events were widely covered and attracted international attention, raising widespread support for the voting rights campaign.

The film depicts the events related to civil rights activities in the winter of 1965 in Selma and nearby jurisdictions, including Jackson's murder and the marches.