Rev. Al Sharpton’s statement fired up a crowd of thousands standing in front of the steps of the Alabama State Capitol building in downtown Montgomery early Friday afternoon:

These laws in Alabama aren't immigration laws. They're Jim Crow laws.

The event marked the last day of a five-day march from Selma to Montgomery, Ala., in which thousands of marchers reinacted the historic 1965 Alabama marches and protested efforts in the state and around the country to take away voting rights and the rights of workers and immigrants. The marchers were joined by thousands of students from area college and universities who took part in a rally elsewhere in town and then marched over to join the crowd at the capitol.

Among the many speakers in the nearly three-hour event, some of the most powerful words came from actor Tyrese Gibson. Gibson joined the march on its second day, flying into town and then renting a car to catch up.

He stood before the crowd and challenged every entertainer watching from home and hearing his voice to “do everything in their power to get people to register to vote.”

That challenge could have easily went out to each person who feels affected by these laws, which should be all of us.

As the rally concluded and everyone held hands and sang “We Shall Overcome,” you got the sense that this rally wasn’t the end of something, but the beginning.