Jack, this week marks the anniversary of the signing of the landmark law, the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The VRA outlawed many of the tactics that had been used to suppress the votes of Black Americans since the end of Reconstruction. It was a crucial step to ending nearly a century of Jim Crow tactics.
When President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the historic bill into law he said:
“Through this Act, an important instrument of freedom passes into the hands of millions of our citizens… The vote is the most powerful instrument ever devised by man for breaking down injustice and destroying the terrible walls which imprison men because they are different from other men.”
Johnson's words still ring true today, and six decades later, we are still fighting to protect voting rights.
Today, we face a real threat of returning to the dark times before the Voting Rights Act and other triumphs of the Civil Rights movement. Red and purple states are passing laws that will suppress our access to the ballot box; laws that the VRA would have outlawed before it was gutted by the Supreme Court. There is a solution--passing the For the People Act--but with redistricting processes about to begin, and midterm elections only about one year away, we are running out of time.
We need to act NOW. We still have a chance to protect our voting rights by passing the For the People Act, but we don't have much time left. Can you support our advocacy work by donating $5 to Daily Kos today?
The For the People Act is historic legislation that, just as the VRA did, will protect the voting rights of millions. It would also expand the electorate, outlaw discriminatory gerrymandering, and reform campaign finance laws to keep dark money out of our elections. Under the For the People Act, politicians would be held accountable to the voters and not corporate influences.
However, soon, the Senate will break for a month-long summer recess. If the For the People Act isn’t brought to the Senate floor and passed before the recess, we’ll essentially be giving Republican-led states the green light to use racist tactics to suppress the vote.
We have already generated over 1,000,000 actions to help pass the For the People Act in 2021, and we are just getting started. Over the next week, we are planning numerous actions to make your voices heard throughout the halls of the U.S. Capitol. We are going to be asking you to join national activists at rallies, send letters and calls your senators demanding that they stay in session until our right to vote is protected, join a livestream celebration of the signing of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and more.
This upcoming week, we will leave everything we have on the field to pass what will be historic policy, the For the People Act, but we need your help. Can you give $5 today?
Keep fighting,
Amanda McKay, Daily Kos
If you wish to donate by mail instead, please send a check to Daily Kos, PO Box 70036, Oakland, CA, 94612. Contributions to Daily Kos are not tax deductible. (Please note that we may be slow to process checks during the coronavirus outbreak.)
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