Election '08 in Civil Rights' Ground Zero

Barack Obama Election 2008 in the Cradle of the Civil Rights Movement Photographer Mario Tama visits Selma and Birmingham as the nation elects its first black American president

Historic Day
Birmingham and Selma, Alabama witnessed critical moments of the civil rights movement. In the early 1960s Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. led massive protests in these cities that eventually led to the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which outlawed the widespread discriminatory practices that had for decades prevented African Americans from voting.

Get the Latest Photos from Time.com
Get TIME photos and pictures of the week delivered directly to your inbox.