Montgomery Riverfront Brawl 1 Year Later

On March 25, 1965, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. led thousands of nonviolent demonstrators on a nearly 60-mile march from Selma to the steps of the capitol in Montgomery.

Source: Julie Bennett / Getty

On August 5, 2023, a second major historical event involving Black people fighting back against white American flim-flammery happened in Montgomery, only nonviolent resistance wasn’t the theme this time around.

One year later, Black people across the negro-net have gathered to celebrate the Montgomery Riverfront Brawl, which began with a group of caucasity-infused Caucasians jumping a Black riverboat co-captain just for telling them to move their boat, which, in turn, resulted in Black people swarming the scene with hands, feet and folding chairs to educate the cocaptain’s assailants on a little thing called, “What We Not Gon’ Do.”

That’s right, Black people are celebrating the festivities by sharing memes, gifs, video clips and hilarious commentary as we wish each other a happy Fadesgiving, a lovely Goon-teenth and a very merry Right-Crossmas.

Yeeeeah—the brawl in Montgomery was certainly a different kind of demonstration. It was less, “free at last,” and more, “beat that ass!” It wasn’t so much, “We shall overcome,” as much as it was, “We finna come over there!” We sang songs like, “Swing Low, Sweet Folding Chair,” and “Lift Every Chair and Swing,” and, of course, the tune that became synonymous with the event, “Fade in the Water.” 

Now, we celebrate our people involved in the brawl who have almost become folk heroes in the Black community. Certified historical figures like Dameion Pickett—the co-captain of the Harriott II whose simple order to white people to move their pontoon boat so the riverboat could part where it was supposed to park set the entire event in motion—and Daniel Warren, a 16-year-old deckhand who was one of the first people to rush to Pickett’s side. And who could forget Aaren Hamilton Rudolph, aka “Black Aquaman,” who famously jumped into the Alabama River from the riverboat so he could swim down to the mele so he could aide Pickett while also aiding those who f*cked around in their journey to find out.

“When they first started hitting on him, I wanted to help,” Aaren told GMA, according to the Montgomery Advertiser. “I couldn’t just watch and sit around and let him get beat on while everyone else was just recording.”

Anyway, while we celebrate the first anniversary of what, as far as Black people are concerned, is the moment that has become a national holiday, it’s worth taking a look at how the court cases that resulted from the arrests that were made, including that of Reggie Ray, the folding chair-wielding Montgomery man who pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct and was sentenced to 90 days in jail, which was suspended, and ordered to perform 50 hours of community service and pay court costs totaling $357, according to the Advertiser.

Ray was the only black person who was arrested after the fight. Here are the rest of the arrestees and how their cases turned out as reported by the Advertiser:

Richard Roberts, of Selma, entered guilty pleas to two counts of misdemeanor assault against Pickett and Warren. Pickett and Warren accepted the guilty pleas.

Roberts was sentenced to 32 days of a four-month suspended jail sentence, to be served on weekends in a Perry County facility. He was ordered to perform 100 hours of community service and pay court costs totaling $714, records show.

Roberts, who threw the first punch to Pickett the cell phone images show, was the only defendant to serve any jail time.

So, nobody really paid any steep penalty for what happened on August 5, 2023, but it doesn’t matter. The event itself, the social media reaction and the way it had Black people rejoicing simultaneously made it all worth it.

See you next year, y’all!