Dear People For Supporter, I’ve asked my staff to send you this message shortly after I was arrested today. I hope you got a chance this morning to tune in online and watch our fifth civil disobedience action in front of the White House. Hundreds of us were arrested today, including leaders and volunteers from an ever-growing coalition of nonprofit and faith groups. We’re rocking the boat and continuing to take our protests to the president because even though he says the right things on voting rights, when it comes to the future of our democracy, failure is not an option — and just saying the right things is not enough. We need action. And we need your help here. The work that we do here at People For – including these direct actions – is only possible thanks to generous donations from grassroots supporters like you. We’ve watched with dismay lately as state after state – all of them controlled by the Far Right – have systematically passed voter suppression bills that strip away the voting rights we’ve worked so hard for decades to secure for each and every American. President Biden simply must urge the Senate to “fix or nix” the filibuster in order to pass the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. Now, in a democracy, majorities should matter, and Democrats currently hold the majority in both houses of Congress. But Senate Republicans have blocked these bills from even being debated – from even being considered – with their unprecedented abuse of the filibuster rule. As a movement, we simply can’t allow our democracy to be held hostage. So we’re going to keep agitating, keep protesting, and, if necessary, keep getting arrested over this issue — because if the President won’t protect our freedom to vote, our democracy is in grave peril. But the unfortunate reality of our world these days is that all this work takes money. Signs cost money. Organizing busloads of people costs money. Batteries for the megaphones cost money. Basically, the work of what the late Congressman John Lewis would call “good trouble” — costs money. We thank you for any support you can provide, and promise that we’ll keep fighting for you – and for a better America. Most sincerely,
– Ben Jealous, President
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