Friend,

This Saturday is the 58th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King’s historic March on Washington. On August 28, 1963, Dr. King delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” speech to an audience of 250,000 in front of the Lincoln Memorial, calling out the tyranny of Jim Crow laws that legalized racial discrimination.

Today, state legislatures are pushing America back to the Jim Crow era with laws that reinstate systemic discrimination at the ballot box. That’s why this Saturday, Dr. King’s son, Martin Luther King III, will help lead Americans on another march to demand federal voting rights protection, in an event called March On for Voting Rights.

This march comprises dozens of events across the country, both in-person and virtual. Chances are your metropolitan area will host at least one march. The SPLC will be participating in the marches in Atlanta and Jackson, Mississippi – and we encourage you to join us in the streets, in your own city or even online. Every voice counts!

SIGN UP TO MARCH

Voting rights are under attack in the United States. Since January, 48 states have introduced 389 bills that amount to shameful, outright voter suppression, and many have already become law. These laws suppress voting methods that enrich our democracy and lead to high turnout: banning ballot drop boxes and mail-in voting, reducing early voting days and hours, restricting who can get a mail-in ballot and prohibiting officials from promoting the use of mail-in ballots even when voters qualify. Some laws even criminalize the distribution of water to voters waiting in the long lines that these laws create.

These racist, anti-democratic voter suppression laws are rigging the game. But in America, elections are not a game – and lives depend on their outcomes. That’s why we’re marching.

You’ll find more information about Saturday’s events and other ways to get involved – including some from the comfort of your own home – at the March On for Voting Rights website.

We hope to see you Saturday!

In solidarity,

Your friends at the Southern Poverty Law Center

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