Yesterday in Selma President Barack Obama gave an extraordinary speech about America, exceptional in its accomplishments and its promise, yet still lacking. Here’s the transcript and the video.

Selma is a place, for sure, but it’s known most for two events. There was a Civil War battle which took place only days before the end of the war. (The 150th anniversary comes on April 1, 2015.) And there were the marches.

The first Selma to Montgomery march happened on Sunday, March 7, 1965, 50 years ago yesterday. Blacks—Negroes back then—and whites marched for voting rights. State troopers and others beat 600 of them. Right here in America, with television cameras rolling tape.

Two more marches occurred,