Greene County Democrat

Tag: 1965 Voting Rights Act

  • Alabama Republican Party considers renewing redistricting battle after Figures win

    Shomari Figures and Caroleene Dobson 

    By Alex Jobin

    Last year, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Alabama state legislature’s congressional map was gerrymandered, violating the Voting Rights Act by disadvantaging Black Alabamians. Despite making up 27 percent of the state’s population, the candidates preferred by Black voters only saw consistent success in one of the state’s seven congressional district since 2011.

    Despite repeated attempts to avoid redistricting, Alabama’s GOP leadership was ultimately forced to redraw the congressional map — twice — after SCOTUS sided with a panel of three federal judges who called for a second majority-Black district or “something quite close to it.” That redrawn map resulted in a new 2nd Congressional District that empowered Black voters in the state.

    On November 5th, Shomari Figures, D-Mobile, beat out his Republican opponent Caroleene Dobson to win that seat. Figures — the son of civil rights leader Michael Figures and Alabama State Senator Vivian Figures — will now be the state’s second Black member set to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives in 2025. This will mark the first time in the state’s history that it will have two Black members of Congress serving simultaneously.

    However, some leaders in the state Republican Party are already looking to reconfigure the 2nd Congressional District yet again in response to Dobson’s loss.  “I can tell you that there is talk and it’s not going to go away,” said Terry Lathan, former chair of the Alabama Republican Party. “An election might be two years from now, but that does not mean our legislature might not take another look at it. It does not mean that we have to not file court cases and go to court over it.”

    Although the new district was drawn specifically with the intent to increase political equity in the state, Lathan claimed that the district lines, drawn by an independent court-appointed official, were “odd.”

    “I don’t know that it went wrong as much as the lines, the way the courts drew the lines,” Lathan said Tuesday, appearing to blame Dobson’s loss on the way the district was redrawn. “I don’t think we’re finished with this. But you have to accept the outcome of the race. It was very oddly drawn lines for CD-2.”

    U.S. Rep. Jerry Carl, R-Mobile, has also criticized the new district lines as being impractical.
    “It’s just about impossible for anyone in District 1 and District 2, both, to do the district justice,” Carl said after a speaking event Thursday. “You can’t serve two masters.”
    “Dothan is so much different than Mobile, and vice versa. It will be hard for anyone in this (1st congressional) district to serve two masters,” Carl continued. “Shomari will have the same problem (in congressional District 2) serving between Montgomery and Mobile. Looking at projects in Montgomery, Mobile will feel left out and vice versa. It’s the nature of the beast.”

    State Sen. Steve Livingston, R-Scottsboro, a sponsor of the failed map which the legislature proposed following the 2023 SCOTUS ruling, hesitated to echo his colleagues concerns. “Let’s let it run its course of action in the courts, and then we’ll see where we are,” Livingston said.

    Jeannie Negrón Burniston, the Communications Director for the Alabama Republican Party, told AL.com that the party had “not heard anything concerning redistricting in the legislature.”

    Questions remain about the future of Alabama’s congressional map. The 2023 SCOTUS ruling was only a preliminary injunction, allowing for the court-drawn map drawn to be used in this year’s elections. Moving forward, it is possible that federal judges in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama will decide to redraw the district lines once more.
    The relevant legal case — Milligan v. Allen — is ongoing and will likely go to trial in 2025. Former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder compared Alabama’s fight against redistricting to voting rights backlash during the Civil Rights era.

    “State officials here in Alabama fought all along the way to not put into effect that which the very conservative Supreme Court interpreted of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, which is the crown jewel of the Civil Rights movement,” Holder said while he campaigned with Figures ahead of Election Day. “(Alabama officials tried to) push back against the very conservative Supreme Court in a way that echoed which occurred from Alabama back in the 60s. It’s almost a resistance … that is what gives me concern.”

  • SOS to commemorate signing of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, in Selma, on Tuesday, August 6, 2024

    An inspirational Celebration and Commemoration of the signing of the 1965 Voting Rights Act is set for Tuesday, August 6th, at 2:30 p.m. at the National Voting Rights Museum & Institute and Statue Park on the Montgomery side of the bridge in Selma. The public is invited and encouraged to attend, and elected officials are specifically invited to participate. August 6th is the 59th Anniversary of President Lyndon Johnson’s signing this landmark piece of legislation into law.

    Former State Senator Hank Sanders said,” We must come back to the bridge for this momentous anniversary. This event is also an opportunity to encourage all voters to fully exercise their right to vote in the 2024 November General Election and in all elections. Passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act would not have been possible without the sacrifice of countless individuals whose names are both known and unknown. “

    So many people from diverse backgrounds and from across this country fought for the right to vote for all United States citizens. Some gave the ultimate sacrifice – their lives – for the right to vote, including men and women, Blacks and Whites, young and old, and members of the clergy. Selma played a crucial role in the Movement that brought about the 1965 Voting Rights Act and is a worldwide symbol for struggles for the right to vote.

    Attorney Faya Rose Toure said, “This may be the last election we will be able to participate in, if some candidates, with an authoritarian streak, get elected and start to dismantle our Constitution and destroy our democracy. WE must return to the bridge on August 6, 2024.”

    Leaders of national organizations have been invited to participate, and some participating in the August 6th event include Southern Christian Leadership Conference National President & CEO Charles Steele and others with SCLC. U.S. Representative Terri Sewell (CD 7) has been invited as has the Democratic nominee for Alabama’s 2nd Congressional District, Shomari Figures.

    A cookout is being held as part of the Voting Rights Celebration and Commemoration with all food being provided at no cost to all those in attendance. School children also played a pivotal role in the Voting Rights Movements, and free basketballs have been provided by North Star Beloved Community Corporation in conjunction with Kay Doherty and Sharing, Inc and will be given to children who participate in the August 6th Celebration and Commemoration.

    This event is sponsored by SOS – the Save Ourselves Movement for Justice and Democracy and other social and economic justice organizations in the state. The National Voting Rights Museum & Institute is located at 6 US-80 East in Selma on the Montgomery side of the foot of the Bridge.

    For more information contact: Shelley Fearson at 334-262-0932; John Zippert at 205/657-0273 and Hank Sanders at 334/782-1651.

  • June 9, 2024, program to commemorate 60thanniversary of ‘Bloody Tuesday’ in Tuscaloosa

    Tuscaloosa Police arrest a protestor on ‘Blood Tuesday’

    On Sunday, June 9, 2024, civil rights organizations in Tuscaloosa, Alabama will hold a commemoration of the 60th anniversary of ‘Bloody Tuesday’ when in 1964, police, state troopers and Klansmen beat 300 Black people gathered at the First African Baptist Church. The people, guided by the leadership of church pastor Rev. T. Y. Rogers of SCLC, were preparing to march to the Tuscaloosa County Courthouse to integrate the facility.

    Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. had recruited and trained Rev. T. Y. Rogers for a major role in the Civil Rights Movement and sent him to Tuscaloosa to lead the movement. ‘Bloody Tuesday’ occurred eight months before the ‘Bloody Sunday March’ in Selma, Alabama, but did not receive the same news coverage and national attention, although there was more violence and arrests, against more people in Tuscaloosa. ’Bloody Tuesday’ was the largest assault and invasion of a Black church by law enforcement during the Civil Rights Movement.

    The 60h anniversary commemoration will feature Congresswoman Terri Sewell of the 7th. Congressional District speaking on the importance of voting and revitalizing the protections of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, which have been diluted b y Supreme Court decisions and state voter suppression laws. Charles Steele, President of SCLC and a former Tuscaloosa City Councilman and State Senator will make remarks. Steele and his brother, both teenagers at the time, were present at the church on ‘Bloody Tuesday’.

    Other surviving movement foot soldiers, who were present at the church, like Maxie Thomas and others, will present greetings. There will also be a re-enactment of the march to the Tuscaloosa County Courthouse.

    History Professor, John Geggie, of the University of Alabama, who has written a new book on ‘Bloody Tuesday’ will be at the program to give remarks and sign copies of the book.

    The program will he held on Sunday, June 9, 2024, from 3:00 to 6:00 PM at the First African Baptist Church of Tuscaloosa, 2621 Stillman Boulevard, Tuscaloosa, AL 35404. The public is invited to share in this important civil rights commemoration and recommitment to restoring voting rights for Black and poor people.

  • President Biden will be third sitting President to attend – President Joe Biden to speak in Selma on Bloody Sunday during the Bridge Crossing Jubilee

    President Joe Biden

    SELMA, AL – “We are so proud and appreciative that President Joe Biden, the 46th President of these United States of America, is speaking at the 30th Annual Bridge Crossing Jubilee to commemorate the 58th Anniversary of Bloody Sunday, the Selma to Montgomery March and the passage of the1965 Voting Rights Act.

    “It means a lot whenever a President comes to Selma for the Jubilee, but it is especially meaningful in light of the devastation wrought by the January 12th tornado that tore a terrible path through Selma,” said former Alabama State Senator Hank Sanders, co-founder of the Selma to Montgomery March Commemoration Foundation and co-founder of the Bridge Crossing Jubilee.
     Faya Rose Toure, the co-founder and Executive Director of the Bridge Crossing Jubilee said: “These are tough times in Selma. It is tough because of all the challenges Selma was already facing, which the January 12, 2023 tornado compounded and intensified. We needed President Biden to come this year more than ever, and he is coming. Many people come and cross the Bridge, but we need people to be a bridge to Selma. President Biden’s coming at this critical time tells us that he understands the need to not only cross the Bridge but also become bridges to Selma.”
    Congresswoman Terri Sewell in a press release, said, ““I am thrilled that President Biden will visit Selma for the 58th anniversary of Bloody Sunday, As Selma continues to recover from the January 12th storms, President Biden’s presence will send a clear message that our community is not alone and shows that the federal government will continue to be a partner in rebuilding Selma and Dallas County. I look forward to welcoming the President to my hometown as we reflect on the sacrifices of the Foot Soldiers in the name of equality and justice for all.”
     
    Dr. James Mitchell, President of Wallace Community College Selma and co-founder and chair of the Selma to Montgomery March Foundation said: “The Bridge Crossing Jubilee is the largest annual Civil Rights and Voting Rights gathering in the country, and Biden has participated in several Jubilees, Martin & Coretta King Unity Breakfasts and Bridge Crossings.

    “In 2013, then-Vice President Biden came to Selma’s Bridge Crossing Jubilee at our invitation and was the keynote speaker at the 2013 Annual Martin & Coretta King Unity Breakfast. He also spoke at the foot of the Edmund Pettus Bridge as Vice President and led marchers across the Bridge in 2013. Biden came again in 2020 as a candidate for President of the United States on the Sunday after he overwhelmingly won the 2020 South Carolina Presidential Democratic Primary.

    “He first spoke as President of the United States when he delivered virtual remarks at the first ever drive in Martin & Coretta King Unity Breakfast in 2021, which was also broadcast live on the internet during the heart of the pandemic. Joe Biden understands Selma’s pivotal role in democracy and the sacredness of Bloody Sunday, so it is especially meaningful that he is returning in person as President of the United States this Sunday.”
     The White House publicly confirmed this morning that President Biden will travel to Selma on Sunday, March 5th, to commemorate the 58th Anniversary of Bloody Sunday. Specific details are to follow. With his coming this year, President Biden will be the third sitting President of the United States to speak at the foot of Edmund Pettus Bridge during the Bridge Crossing Jubilee.
    President Bill Clinton came in 2000 for the 35h Anniversary of Bloody Sunday. President Barack Obama came in 2015 for the 50th Anniversary of Bloody Sunday. And now President Biden will be here this Sunday for the 58th Anniversary of Bloody Sunday to speak at the Bridge and lead marchers over the Bridge during the sacred and symbolic Bloody Sunday March.
    At the Selma to Montgomery March Foundation’s invitation, President Biden had been slated to speak at the Bridge during last year’s Commemoration of Bloody Sunday but sent Vice President Kamala Harris to speak at the Bridge after Russia invaded Ukraine. 
    For more information on the schedule for the March 2 to 6, 2023, Bridge Crossing Jubilee, Visit our website at: bridgecrossingjubilee.com.

  • Newswire : North Carolina court ruling restores voting rights to previously incarcerated people, who have not completed parole

    North Carolina voting box

    By Anoa Changa, NewsOne

    Fulfilling a promise over 50 years in the making, a North Carolina Court extended the right to vote to people formerly incarcerated for felonies; lawyers and advocates say this is the single largest grant of voting rights in North Carolina since the 1965 Voting Rights Act was passed.   In a 2-1 decision, a North Carolina State Superior Court panel of judges found that a law disallowing formerly incarcerated people from voting unless they have completed probation or parole was unconstitutional. The written opinion is expected later this week.   “Our biggest quarrels and fights in this state have been and continue to be who gets to have a civic voice to be included in that ‘we the people,’” said attorney Daryl Atkins, co-director of Forward Justice, during a Monday afternoon press conference. “For centuries, women and Black folks were not included in that ‘we the people.’ This lawsuit was about us, making sure that we include the 56,000 North Carolinians who live in our communities paying taxes every day dropping kids off at school, but serve in community supervision for felony convictions.”   Adding 56,000 new voters to the rolls could shift the state’s political landscape in upcoming elections. It could also pave the way for the state to expand the number of Black senators in Congress.  Former North Carolina Supreme Court Chief Justice Cheri Beasley, a Black woman, is one of several vying for an open U.S. Senate seat in 2022.  Only 11 Black senators have ever served in Congress. Sens. Tim Scott and Rev. Raphael Warnock are the only Black senators from the south in over a century.   Executive Director of Community Success Initiative Dennis Gaddis added that expanding the right to vote to those on probation and parole allowed people “to have a voice and to be able to have a say in their communities and in their families and in their own lives.” He added that this was not just about the 56,000 people now eligible to vote but the people who will be released in the coming years.   During a Monday afternoon press, several of those present also addressed concerns about the public being upset about felony rights restoration. To them, anyone upset about rights being restored to people who are no longer incarcerated is missing the point about returning to society.   Diana Powell, executive director of Justice Served, said that people who paid their debt to society while inside a facility and then re-entered a community should have their rights restored. “A person that has to pay taxes should have a voice in that society, in that community that he lives, works, and plays every day,” Powell said bluntly.  So if you’re paying taxes, then you should have a right to vote.”  GOP opponents of the law pledged to appeal the decisions. Some members of the state GOP even argued that holding the law unconstitutional does not automatically re-enfranchise people absent an act of the legislature. In a North Carolina Public Radio segment, a republican senator claimed the decision was a power grab.  Despite the “changes” lawmakers claim to have adopted post-civil rights movement, a report filed as a part of the litigation indicates that Black voters are disenfranchised at nearly three times the rate of their white counterparts. Black residents comprise 21 percent of the voting-age population but are 42 percent of those disenfranchised.   The litigation has been one part of the Unlock Our Vote Campaign, consisting of direct community engagement and outreach. Rev. Dr. T. Anthony Spearman, president of the North Carolina NAACP, said the next step would be voter registration drives in partnership with the North Carolina Second Chance Alliance.   As the fight to protect the right to vote continues across the country, the importance of expanding voting rights ahead of the 2022 midterm election cannot be underscored. People disenfranchised due to a felony conviction and their loved ones are an emerging voting bloc, with the potential to shift the realm of possibility, whether it’s increasing the number of Black senators in Congress or adding new voices to local and state government.   “Morally speaking, this type of disenfranchisement is the product of an explicitly racist effort after the Civil War to suppress the political power of African Americans,” said Spearman. “It is time to unlock the vote. And today, the vote has been unlocked.” 

  • Greene County Freedom Day scheduled for July 31

    Johnny Ford

    Alabama Civil Rights Museum Movement, Inc. will host the 52nd Annual Greene County Freedom Day Program, Saturday, July 31, 2021 on the Rev. Thomas Gilmore Square (old courthouse). Honorable Johnny Ford, of Tuskegee, AL will serve as the keynote speaker. “On Greene County Freedom Day, July 29, 1969, a Special Election was held in the county that elected the first four Black County Commissioners and two additional Black school board members, which gave Black people control of the major agencies of government,” said Spiver W. Gordon, President of the Alabama Civil Rights Museum Movement. This special election in the summer of 1969 was ordered by the United States Supreme Court when the names of Black candidates, running on the National Democratic Party of Alabama (NDPA), were deliberately left off the November 1968 General Election ballot by the ruling white political officials of the time. “The special election of July 29, 1969 allowed Black voters, many newly registered under the 1965 Voting Rights Act, who were the majority population in Greene County to have their say in a free and democratic election” Gordon stated. COVID 19 Vaccinations will be promoted at the event. According Gordon, he is arranging for individuals to get vaccinations at the program on July 31. A limited number of gift certificates will be given to individuals getting their vaccinations on July 31. Gordon stated that more information on the gift certificates will be provided at a later time.