Dear John:
On behalf of UNITE HERE’s Black Leadership Group, we want to extend one last invite to you to join our special livestream event commemorating the 55th Anniversary of the Voting Rights Act, beginning in 30 minutes. For those unsure about what this stream is about, we would like to share some of our goals in tonight’s program of political education, reflection, and Black joy.
2020 has been a year full of many challenges. It also presents a serious opportunity for the working-class. In June, a rebellion ignited across the country denouncing anti-Black racism and police violence and brutality. Meanwhile, millions of working-class people stand in the middle of an unemployment and healthcare crisis as COVID-19 ravages predominantly Black and Latino populations. $800 billion dollars and distribution of services to Black and Latinx communities are at stake with the deadline for the 2020 Census. And while Black people and people of color have made significant political and economic gains through organizing and electoral participation, fifty-five years after the passage of the Voting Rights Act, racist and conservative forces continue to find ways to suppress the vote, including changes to state voting laws, polling center closures, and cumbersome registration barriers resembling the same literacy tests from the early 20th century to keep us out of the polls.
As we approach the 90-day countdown until the most important Presidential Election Day of our lives on November 3, we hope for this special livestream event to serve as a call-to-action amid a political storm and call for a massive shift in power that has become the defining theme throughout 2020. Our country may have the ultimate boss in the oval office standing firmly as a symbol of anti-Black, anti-immigrant, anti-worker, and sexist hate produced by the stronghold of capitalist. But our Union — made of mainly Black, Latinx, immigrant communities, and women — continues to move with determination to uplift and protect workers in a middle of a pandemic. Our program tonight will highlight the ways we are galvanizing our Union’s members to assert our power in not only the 2020 presidential election but key state and local races in Florida, Nevada, and Arizona.
The Black Leadership Group of UNITE HERE is dedicating tonight’s event to the memory of John Lewis and CT Vivian, pioneers in the movement for Black voting rights and civil rights. We hope that those who tune in to enjoy our program to “LIFT EVERY VOICE” can share it with your friends and family, whether they are union or not.
Thank you.
In solidarity,
Scott Marks, Organizing Director, Chair Black Leadership Committee
Nia Winston, IU General Vice President, L24 President
Marlene Patrick-Cooper, Executive Committee, L23 President
Marvin Jones, General Executive Board, L878 President
Alberta Palmer, L7 Lead Organizer
Kandiz Lamb, L355 Vice President, Lead Organizer
Barbara Vereen, L34 Organizing Director
Donald Boyd, L23 Chapter President
Tyisha Walker-Myers, General Executive Board, L35 Chief Steward
Pamela Stitts, IU Lead Organizer
Theressa Council, L54 Organizing Director
Courtney Smith, L1 Lead Organizer
Jean-Homer Lauture, L100 Lead Organizer
Leain Vashon, L226 Vice President
JT Thomas, L226 Field Representative
Nicole Hunt, General Executive Board, L634 President
Kelley Ford, IU Administrator
Charese Rasberry, L226 Lead Organizer
Ron Gatewood, IU Lead Organizer
Patrick Boyd, IU Organizing Director
