Since the rejection of voting status for the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party delegates by the regular delegates at the 1964 Democratic National Convention in Atlantic City , major tensions between SCLC and SNCC had been brewing . SCLC ultimately remained neutral in the MFDP dispute in order to maintain its ties with the national Democratic coalition . Many SNCC members believed they were in an adversarial position with an American establishment which they thought had scorned grassroots democracy . SNCC 's focus was on bottom-up organizing , establishing deep-rooted local power bases through community organizing . They had become distrustful of SCLC 's spectacular mobilizations which were designed to appeal to the national media and Washington DC , but which , most of SNCC believed , did not result in major improvements for the lives of African Americans on the ground . But , SNCC chairman John Lewis ( also an SCLC board member ) , believed mass mobilizations to be invaluable , and he urged the group to participate . SNCC called in Fay Bellamy and Silas Norman to be full-time organizers in Selma
1964 Democratic National Convention
1964 Democratic National Convention
Selma to Montgomery marches