Mark your calendars now to listen to a very special Igniting Change radio show covering the upcoming 51st Anniversary of the Voting Rights Act on August 6th and the Call to Action this coming weekend to demand the full restoration of the VRA! Also, last week, there were three major voting rights victories issued by the courts, including a scathing and far-ranging decision from the US 4th Circuit Court of Appeals striking down the North Carolina “Monster” Voter Suppression law as adopted with racially discriminatory intent! Our pre-eminent guests will include Rev. William Barber, Architect of the Moral Monday movement in North Carolina, whose speech last week electrified the Democratic National Convention; Dr. Bernard Simelton, President of the NAACP Alabama State Conference, civil rights leaders and Lee Smith III, Junior at TSU who will bring a Millennial’s perspective on recent voting rights developments.
On August 5-7th, the Voting Rights Alliance is calling on all Americans to join in National Days of Action, including our Twitter Town Hall on August 6th and candle-light vigils at churches and other assemblies to express both our gratitude to those who sacrificed so much to make the 1965 VRA possible, but to pick up the mantle of fighting to restore the Voting Rights Act by fixing the damage done by the 2013 decision in Shelby v. Holder, which has helped to embolden states in implementing voter suppression laws. We will talk about how our listeners can participate in these Days of Action.
Our guests will discuss the fight in North Carolina by Moral Mondays and the new movement of Repairers of the Breach. We will also look at the situation in Alabama where the NAACP is fighting the state’s Voter ID law and the cutbacks of DMVs in predominantly African American counties.
Now that the Fifth Circuit, Fourth Circuit and District Courts in Wisconsin have found Voter ID laws and other impediments to voting violative of the Voting Rights Act and in Wisconsin of the US Constitution, what needs to be done to protect the vote? How do we reach over a million voters impacted by these decisions when the states have announced no intent to educate them? How can our listeners step up to this moment in history and be voting rights champions?
Be sure to listen to this show on Tuesday, August 2nd, at 12:00-1:00 p.m. EDT.
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Lee Smith III
Lee Smith III is an undergraduate student at Tennessee State University majoring in political science. He’s from Chicago, IL and being from that city has […]
Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II
The Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II is Pastor of Greenleaf Christian Church, Disciples of Christ in Goldsboro, North Carolina and architect of the Forward […]
Benard Simelton, Sr.
Benard H. Simelton Sr. was born in Tiplersville, MS and attended College at Mississippi Valley State University in Itta Bena, MS. He graduated with a […]
