Voices from all sections of our country are sounding the alarm as democracy as we’ve known it is in grave danger. Voter suppression laws targetting African Americans and other minorities have passed in 19 states this past year. While this drive is targeted particularly at African Americans and at other minorities, no one is untouched if the right to vote is suppressed and destroyed. Leaders are talking about the need for structural change. The People’s Tribune has taken a snapshot of some of the many voices raised in this burgeoning movement below. Send your comments or story to peoplestribune@gmail.com/
— The Editors, People’s Tribune
Photo/Facebook
HUNGER STRIKES FOR DEMOCRACY
TALK-SHOW HOST JOE MADISON ends his hunger strike:
Joe Madison, whose hunger strike for voting rights began on November 8, inspired students and others throughout the country with his words, “a movement requires sacrifice.” Upon announcing the ending of his hunger strike after 74 days – after Congress failed to pass the legislation – he told his listeners: “What Republicans in the Senate and state legislatures have done is awaken a new generation of activists and advocates, and that generation now knows and it’s prepared to continue this struggle to protect our voting rights. … You have now awakened a sleeping giant. … And I say to the Democratic Party, I say to independents, now is the time to regroup, organize door to door and on the grassroot level. We didn’t get the votes in the Senate but we have awakened the minds, the hearts and the consciousness of a new generation.”
KYLA FRANK, Un-PAC youth hunger striker and organizer:
“This has been a long struggle and battle for meaningful democracy reform in this country. And it is very disappointing to see that 52 Senators are on the wrong side of history and voted against the most meaningful bill of our lifetime. But I am still hopeful because there are young people who are continuing to fight, and I’m not gonna give up!
We have tried for the last year, calling, emailing, even meeting with our senators in over 20 Senate offices to talk about passing democracy reform and none of those tactics have worked. And so we’ve wanted our senators to feel our urgency. We wanted to make a moral plea to them to pass this bill because our democracy is crumbling . . . Many senators failed young people because they are beholden to dark money and corporate interests.” (FOX SOUL’s Black Report, FB.)
ADRIAN JUAN HORTON, Un-PAC, hunger striker and student organizer:
“We were joined by so many community members, faith leaders, executive directors of nonprofits and other political committees [and Martin Luther King’s family.] We were shown a lot of solidarity. … I think based on all of the media attention and increased awareness about this issue, we really were effective in mobilizing young people, but honestly, the whole country. So, we did everything, we were supposed to do, but the Senate failed to rise to the moment.”
Editor’s note: These excerpts from Kyla and Adrian are from FOX SOUL’s Black Report on Facebook. Un-PAC is a non-partisan organization that is bringing together Americans of all stripes to confront the corrupting influence of money in politics. Their call is, “We the People, not it’s the Money.”
FAITH LEADERS AND MORAL RESISTANCE
BISHOP WILLIAM BARBER II, co-chair of the Poor People’s Campaign:
“It’s amazing to me . . . that when it came to the corporations, they got everything they asked for. They wanted $4 or $5 trillion, they got $4 or $5 trillion. . . You know, we cannot let the politicians — I don’t care what party — just say, ‘Here’s what you need, and this is the greatest thing you can have.’ No, we want all our freedom, all our voting rights, all our economic prosperity, and we want it now. And we don’t know what can happen until we see the greatest, largest mass movement of poor and low-wealth people in this country ever in history. And that is what we’re moving towards, putting together and pushing out now….
Dr. King said it’s the aristocracy that knew [the masses] were out there, knew they could be unified, and that’s why billions of dollars has been spent to divide us … we’ve been begging the president and his handlers to meet with moral leaders, white and Black and Brown and Latino, and impacted people in the White House. To make this a Black issue is dangerous. It’s not just a Black issue. Fifty-five million people will lose their access to the polls that they used in 2020, if we allow what’s going on to continue. It’s a democracy issue.”
REV. STEPHEN A. GREEN, Chair of Faith for Black Lives:
Editor’s note: Twenty-five faith leaders went on hunger strike for voting rights.
“As faith leaders, we are called to speak truth to power and to raise the conscience of this nation through moral resistance,” the Rev. Stephen A. Green, chair, Faith for Black Lives, said. “This hunger strike reflects our deep commitment to radical love in action to redeem the soul of this nation. As we approach midnight for our democracy, the United States Congress must act urgently to pass voting rights legislation now. (The Washington Informer)
“Our ancestors fought too hard to give us access to the ballot and we refuse to allow fascism to strip away our freedom. We must continue to escalate in nonviolent moral militant action across the nation until we build beloved community. It’s the ballot or the blackout!” #GoodTroubleTuesday
THE FIGHT REMAINS HOT IN GEORGIA
The votes of hundreds of thousands of Georgians are under threat from a little-noticed provision of Georgia’s new voting restriction law, SB 202.
ATTORNEYS BARBARA R. ARNWINE AND DARYL D. JONES, Co-Leaders, Transformative Justice Coalition:
“If the Freedom To Vote: John R. Lewis Act had been enacted many of these voter suppression pieces of legislation would have been unlawful. The failure of the U.S. Senate to protect America’s voters leaves open to state legislatures the opportunity to impose with “surgical precision” legislation, polling place closures and other suppressive voting practices intended to discourage, block and to reduce the participation of young voters, vulnerable voters and voters of color. In failing to pass the Freedom To Vote: John R. Lewis Act, the U.S. Senate has endorsed voter suppression legislation by states throughout this country . . .
“The battle continues and TJC will take the anti-voter suppression contest out of the well of the U.S. Senate and “take it to the streets.” As Co-Leader Attorney Daryl D. Jones sat in at the U.S. Capitol and was arrested the next day following the anti-Democracy vote of the U.S. Senate’s denial to protect America’s right to vote, TJC will work feverishly to educate, protect and encourage people to vote and elect representatives that best serve their interests. TJC will be working with coalitions of Young, Vulnerable, Voters with Disabilities and Voters of Color Communities every step of the way in every state in America to fight the imposition of voter suppression legislation and to build a robust, inclusive and multiracial democracy!” Excerpts are from a statement by the Transformative Justice Coalition: “The Impact of the Decision Of the U.S. Senate in Freedom To Vote: John R. Lewis Act”
STACEY ABRAMS of Fair Fight Action, candidate for governor of Georgia:
“My parents lived the first 20 years of their lives basically without full citizenship. I think we can wait a few weeks or months to get where we need to be because ultimately it’s the goal. … Our responsibility is to never give up hope and never give up the work we have to do. The work remains and we can do it.” — (Interview by Seth Myers: Stacey Abrams: Stacey Abrams on Fighting for Georgia and Her Optimism for Voting Rights – YouTube)
GREG PALAST, Investigative Journalist on Georgia’s attack on Korean American voting group:
“There’s a group called 10,000 Koreans Vote. They were collecting 10,000 Korean American registrations. So they sent in the first 4,000 and then they found out that the state was not putting the people they registered on the voter rolls. … They called and said, “What happened to our voters?’ They said, ‘Oh, there are no such voters. We never got the forms.’ [The voters’ group] said, ‘Yes you did. In fact, we have photocopies. They said, you have photocopies? We’ll be right over.’ They came right over with guns and automatic weapons. They brought in RoboCops. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation kicked in the doors, grabbed all the computers, all the files, seized them, and told everyone there that they were facing felony charges for tampering with registration rolls. It was all baloney but it scared the hell out of the Asian American community. And that registration drive stopped dead. And this is what you have to understand. It’s not that they just picked out the Asian American community – they did the same thing to the New Georgia Project … founded by Stacey Abrams … they kicked in the door. They did it for a student group. Let’s not forget young people, especially students in Atlanta. These are the tricks that they play, but they’re widening out because they just found America’s changing. You can’t just go after Black people, you have to go after Asian Americans, you have to go after Hispanics, you have to go after students. So what’s happening is why when we talk about votes, it’s not just the Black community. It is, they basically. You have a minority and a demographic minority which is trying desperately to hold on in the face of American reality. – Excerpted from Greg Palast’s YouTube video.
Fighting voter suppression in a rural white-majority Georgia county
Lincoln County, Georgia, a rural majority “white” county, is trying to close all but one polling place for the 2022 elections. The county is one of six in this battleground state that have disbanded or reconfigured their local election boards in the last year, thanks to recently passed bills by the Republican-controlled Georgia General Assembly. This move is opposed by voting and civil rights groups.
“Some people live as far as 23 miles from the city of Lincolnton,” said Denise Freeman, an activist and former Lincoln County school board member. “This is not about convenience for the citizens. This is about control. This is about the good old boys wanting to do what they’ve always done, which is power and control.”
In a community with little reliable public transportation, “the poor and marginalized people won’t be able to vote because, bottom line, they won’t be able to get to the polls,” said the Rev. Christopher Johnson, the head of the Greater Augusta Interfaith Coalition. (See CNN story: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rszj_zUgUYc&t=83s/)
MORE VOICES FROM AROUND THE MOVEMENT
PRESIDENT CECIL E. ROBERTS, United Mine Workers of America:
“The right to vote is essential to ensure a strong democracy within the United States, however, state after state is encouraging discriminatory legislation to restrict citizens’ access to voting. Restricting voting rights wipes away 60 years of progress our nation has made to expand these rights. It is un-American and outright wrong to prevent anyone in our society from having a voice in the election process. Congress needs to act and act soon. Pass the Freedom to Vote: John R. Lewis Act.” (Excerpt from UMWA Press Release read by Cecil E. Roberts)
LAKOTA PEOPLE’S LAW PROJECT
“At this critical moment, we can’t lose more ground in our battle for equity and justice. If we don’t stand for democracy now, we may never have the chance again. . . we can still fulfill the dream shared by MLK and John Lewis. We can let freedom ring from every mountainside. But we must act as one for the benefit of all.” (Facebook, Lakota People’s Law Project)
“It’s time to remove Sen. Kyrsten Sinema from office. We’re launching the #AdiosSinema campaign, committing to six-figures in the 2024 primary to hold Sen. Kyrsten Sinema accountable for blocking voting rights protections for millions of Latino voters. Help us say ¡Adiós Sinema! adiossinema.org”
LATOSHA BROWN, co-founder of Black Voters Matter:
[What] gives me hope in this moment is those 600 people that were on the Edmund Pettus Bridge, those folks in Selma, Alabama that didn’t have politics on their side. Matter of fact, they were fighting Republicans and the Dixiecrats, right? But because they had principle and . . . had a vision, they changed the course of history. . . . And right now, that is being asked of us. Yes, the president has a responsibility. Congress has a responsibility and we have to hold them accountable and to the fire. But we also have a responsibility . . . If democracy is to take place and be real in this country, we, the people, are going to have to make it be real.
So, part of our work . . . is getting our communities to believe that . . . we deserve power. And to act in that power, and use our collective voices and recognize that when we work together, we win. And then . . . keep the pressure on.
And so whereever I go, I ask people to close their eyes and I ask, ‘What would America look like without racism? What would America look like if she truly were, are a democracy, as it’s laid out in the Declaration of Independence, where . . . every single human being has access to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. What does that America look like? . . .
I also think . . . yes, we’ve got to reduce the harm that is happening. But we also have to recognize the political system and infrastructure that we have right now will not lend itself to . . . the kind of democracy that every citizen in this country can have . . . we need something more inclusive, more equitable. . . we have to have conversations that aren’t about our politics. This is really about humanity. . . we can have different ideologies, positions, but that doesn’t mean that I have to seek to destroy your humanity.
The first thing I did right was the day I started to fight.
Keep your eyes on the prize and hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on . . . Y’all, when we work together, we win. We will win.
Excerpts from an interview on Terri Talk at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkYWo4Oyro0
