Milligan is the named plaintiff in Allen v. Milligan, a case that
resulted in a historic U.S. Supreme Court ruling.
Alabama civil rights activist secures US Supreme Court voting rights
victory
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Kinsey Akers Read the full piece here
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Friend,
At 16 years old, Evan Milligan worked his first paid social justice
job with the Federation of Child Care Centers of Alabama
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, a grassroots organization born out of the civil rights movement with
a focus on improving the lives of low-income families in Alabama.
This was not the start of his long-standing devotion to civil rights,
nor was it the end. He grew up surrounded by friends and family who
doubled as community leaders, visionaries and activists. His
relationship with civic engagement was cultivated at a young age.
Raised in Montgomery, Alabama - the site of numerous pivotal
events during the civil rights movement - Milligan can't
pinpoint the exact moment he became interested in serving his
community. Whether it was hearing stories from community elders about
the struggles of growing up Black during the Jim Crow era or helping
his mother hand out flyers for HIV/AIDS awareness, Milligan was
constantly involved in his family's advocacy.
"There wasn't really a moment when we weren't
attached to the movement in some way," he said. "With
parents who were doing movement work in the '60s and '70s,
all of that shaped how I was thinking and how I was feeling."
Today, Milligan is carrying on his family's legacy as executive
director of Alabama Forward
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, a civic engagement network that has received over $300,000 in grants
from the Southern Poverty Law Center's Vote Your Voice
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initiative over the past two years. The grants enable nonprofits to
work on a range of activities to secure full voter participation and
achieve equitable representation.
He was also the named plaintiff in Allen v. Milligan
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, a case that resulted in a historic U.S. Supreme Court ruling
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that Alabama's new congressional district map violated the
Voting Rights Act (VRA) by diluting the votes of Black residents. The
June 8 decision means that the state, where Black people comprise 27%
of the population, must redraw the map to include a second
majority-Black congressional district (out of seven total).
"At a time when states continue to enact discriminatory
redistricting maps, this ruling reaffirms the Voting Rights
Act's essential role in countering efforts to dilute the voting
strength of communities of color," said Jack Genberg, senior
staff attorney for voting rights at the SPLC.
Read More
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In solidarity,
Your friends at the Southern Poverty Law Center
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working in partnership with communities to dismantle white supremacy,
strengthen intersectional movements, and advance the human rights of
all people.
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justice and equity in courts and combat white supremacy?
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