How should Juneteenth be understood, be celebrated, be remembered, given this moment of deep anti-democratic machinations and authoritarian/fascistic ambitions cultivated at the “highest” offices within this land? The tension between the sense of renewed freedom that Juneteenth engenders and the profound unfreedom that this country perpetuates is not lost on me. Indeed, as the 250th anniversary of…
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A three-judge panel on Tuesday morning blocked Alabama from using a 2023 congressional map the panel ruled racially discriminatory and ordered the state to use a remedial map aimed at giving Black Alabamians a chance to elect their preferred leaders. The order comes almost a month after the U.S. Supreme Court substantially weakened Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act in a case known as…
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The Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) sent a letter to hundreds of corporations this week, urging them to recommit to protecting democratic and civil rights following a Supreme Court ruling issued late last month that dismantled aspects of the Voting Rights Act. The CBC noted that many of the businesses receiving the letter had pledged to support the John Lewis Voting Rights Act five years ago…
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Tensions erupted Friday as Republican state lawmakers presented new election maps to eliminate one or both of Louisiana’s majority-Black congressional districts. Hundreds of people came to the State Capitol, filling several overflow rooms, to watch the Senate and Governmental Affairs Committee, which met to consider new U.S. House district boundaries and give the public a chance to comment.
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On Wednesday, Tennessee state Republican lawmakers proposed a new congressional map that would lessen the already small Democratic representation in the state and eliminate Black political power within the delegation sent to Washington. The move comes after the federal Supreme Court ruled earlier this month that enforcement mechanisms from lower courts for the Voting Rights Act (VRA)…
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