Dear Friend,

This year’s Black History Month 2020 theme is “African Americans and the Vote,” in honor of the sesquicentennial and centennial anniversary of the 15th and 19th Amendments. These amendments seek to ensure that states and communities do not deny men and women the right to vote based on their race or gender.

This month gives us opportunities to celebrate black leaders and pioneers. Leaders like Hiram Revels and Blanche K. Bruce, the first black men elected to the Senate in the 1870s; Shirley Chisholm, the first black woman to be elected to Congress in 1968; and the wave of support that ushered in the most diverse Congress in our nation’s history in 2018.

In addition to celebrating the contributions of African Americans in shaping our nation, however, we must also remember the harms of an era whose effects are still with us today—and the work that is still needed.

Voter ID laws, cuts to early voting, purging voter rolls, and closing polling locations—all of which prevent access to voting for many people of color—must end.

And six years after the Supreme Court stripped key parts of the 1965 Voting Rights Act—landmark legislation protecting voters of color—Madeleine worked with the House of Representatives to pass H.R. 4, a bill to restore those safeguards. This bill must now pass the Senate.

Stand with Mad and add your name to her petition calling for an end to these harmful voter suppression tactics that silence so many voices and so many people of color.

We must protect the right to vote this year and every year, promote more diverse participation and representation, and take action to eradicate the harms of our past.

Sincerely,

Team Dean