Southwest Georgia Project: 60 years of voting rights work

Latest

Shirley Sherrod

 
Shirley Sherrod, a long-time civil rights leader, is the executive director of the Southwest Georgia Project, founded in 1961 in the town of Albany. It has been working to register local people to vote AND to run for office.
“My husband, Charles Sherrod, was one of the founding members of SNCC [the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee] and the first field secretary of SNCC,” she said. “So he came to southwest Georgia because the Justice Department had filed a voting rights suit against Terrell County.
“His work started here in southwest Georgia and it also led to creating the Albany Movement and the movement in Terrell County, in Sumter County, in Baker and Worth [counties].”
She recently described the Project’s work before Election Day and the strong voter turnout in Albany.
“We encouraged people to vote absentee and those who didn’t, we encouraged them to go to early voting. And the lines here were wrapped around the building. And the young people, some of them who were part of a coalition that included Black Voters Matter, decided to get snacks and water to people who were standing in line.”
As much as Georgia has changed since the Sixties, Sherrod agreed that in recent years, the clock of history has turned backward in terms of voting rights.
“We got the right to vote and then the Supreme Court took some of that away [Shelby County v. Holder, 2013]. And who knows what else they are going to do to suppress our vote.”
Regarding the January 5 runoff election for Georgia’s two seats in the U.S. Senate, Sherrod spelled out what the Southwest Georgia Project’s role in the coming weeks will be.
“As a nonprofit organization, we can’t tell people who to vote for, but we can work really hard with folks. […] “We realize how important this election is. Again, we can’t tell our people who to vote for, but we can work with them and push them to get out and vote.”

Project to mobilize rural Georgia makes gains

Voter Suppression: We will not be deterred

After Kentucky: Will the will of the people be done in November?


 

+ Articles by this author

Free to republish but please credit the People's Tribune. Visit us at www.peoplestribune.org, email peoplestribune@gmail.com, or call 773-486-3551.

The People’s Tribune brings you articles written by individuals or organizations, along with our own reporting. Bylined articles reflect the views of the authors. Unsigned articles reflect the views of the editorial board. Please credit the source when sharing: ©2024 peoplestribune.org. Please donate to help us keep bringing you voices of the movement. Click here. We’re all volunteer, no paid staff.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Featured

ICE Terror Campaign Threatens Us All

Several recent Facebook reels show how ICE is ramping up its campaign of terror against immigrants, citizens and protestors alike as the effort to create a police state continues and resistance grows. One creator speaks to the significance of Haitians now being targeted.

Medicaid Defenders in Wheelchairs Arrested Ahead of Senate Budget Vote

Over 60 people, including grandmas in wheelchairs, were arrested in the U.S. Senate Rotunda in a nonviolent protest against cuts like Medicaid and the SNAP food program in Trump’s “Big Beautiful Budget Bill.”

Zohran Mamdani Delivers Stunning Blow to ‘Billionaire-Backed Status Quo’ in NYC

New York City proved that a movement powered by hope, courage, and working class people can beat the money of billionaires.

The American People Want Peace, Not War!

The US's immoral and illegal attack on Iran threatens the whole world with war. The American people have a special responsibility to come out into the streets and rein in the US government, which has become a rogue state.

Juneteenth 2025: ‘We Have to Win this Fight,’ Hannah-Jones Tells Black Graduates

Journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones addressed Black graduates at Harvard University, telling them that "we are about to see unleashed upon us an America that we have not had to live in. And we have to win this battle."

More from the People's Tribune