“We are going to make you wish you was dead.”

Those were the words of a white Mississippi patrolman to civil rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer, after being beaten and arrested while returning home from a voter education workshop in South Carolina. 

62 years ago to the day, civil rights activists in Winona, Mississippi were met with anti-Black violence and arrested upon their arrival at a rest stop after the police were called by the bus driver who notified them of the activists sitting in the “whites only” section. 

But their purpose of traveling for voter registration efforts and for working towards voter empowerment and education was well known to authorities. This was a coordinated effort by southern authorities during Jim Crow to dismantle voter registration efforts being done by civil rights activists. 

Friend — today, the coordinated efforts to dismantle voting freedom we see feel eerily familiar. While the efforts may not be through police violence, they are seen blatantly through legislation, backroom deals, and in the court room. 

Right now, the SAVE Act lies in the Senate. If passed, it has the potential to disenfranchise millions of Americans, disproportionately impacting historically marginalized communities.

This strategy is not new. It’s intentional. But Fair Fight Action is fighting back. Chip in to help fuel our fight for fair and free elections.

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We must never forget the freedom fighters who came before us — who they were, their experiences, and the things they sacrificed to protect and advance voting freedom. 

Civil rights activists faced violence in Winona in June 1963 — but still, they prevailed. 

We will too, friend. We have to. 

Fair Fight Action is exposing voter suppression in every shape and form. We’re educating voters about their freedom, sounding the alarm on far-right extremism on the state and national level, and are putting in the work to build a truly representative, multi-racial democracy. 

But we can’t do it alone. 

Just like the folks in Winona pushed forward, we must remain in solidarity with one another as we fight against the anti-democracy forces against us. 

As a national leader in the fight for voting rights and democracy, Fair Fight Action is on the frontlines in the fight for voting freedom. Make a contribution to Fair Fight Action now.

In solidarity, 
Fair Fight Action