Dear MoveOn member,
My father, Martin Luther King Jr., knew that the right to vote was essential to bring about equality. African Americans must have the right to vote.
He fought for landmark legislation, including the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and organized voter registration drives like the Freedom Summer to codify our right to have a say in the halls of power and laws that govern our lives. And now, backlash from Republican-controlled legislatures and the right-wing-packed Supreme Court are working to undo my father’s legacy and our freedom to vote.
The time to act is now: Senate Majority Leader Schumer set a deadline of on or before Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, one week from today, to vote on unrigging the rules of democracy.1
A record number of voters—over 81 million people from a multiracial, multigenerational coalition—elected President Biden and VP Harris, and we knew the stakes.2 Democrats in the House, Senate, and presidency promised to deliver on voting rights, and so we delivered the unique governing opportunity for them to make good on their word, defend our democratic principles, and fight for the communities they represent.
The backlash from Republicans, who fear the power of Black and brown voters, has been swift and brutal. Almost 400 bills aimed at limiting our freedom to vote have been introduced.3 In my home state of Georgia, the legislature created additional pathways to interfere, even giving itself the power to take over local elections, including the ability to overturn results they dislike.4 We’ve seen this before. Following Reconstruction, a white backlash stole voting rights from African Americans, instituted Jim Crow laws, and spawned the Ku Klux Klan. During and after the civil rights movement, white backlash led to efforts to intimidate us from exercising our rights and suppress turnout among Black, brown, and Indigenous voters.5
The U.S. Senate can confront these attacks by passing popular voting rights legislation—but only if they respect the freedom to vote above protecting the ability of the right-wing minority to abuse the filibuster. And President Biden can use the power of his office to compel Senate Democrats to act. But together, they must choose either to protect our freedom to vote or protect the racist tool that has been used to block progress for generations. They cannot do both.
We should not have to once again march for the same basic voting rights my father and civil rights leaders secured in the 1960s. But as my father would have, we will continue to use our voices to call for what is right, what is just, and what is equitable. We call on our leaders to act with courage and moral conviction to defend our democracy. We demand that when they quote my father, celebrate his life and work, or say they loved John Lewis, they show that love in their actions.
It is long past time that we stop bending to the filibuster as it enables dangerous obstruction to effectively greenlight racist policies. The voting rights bills sitting in the Senate will protect our freedom to vote, curb the power of money in politics, work toward fair representation, and protect election results.6 We must work toward a nation where racism, poverty, and violence are replaced with peace, justice, and equity.
A majority of senators and the American people support these bills to protect our freedom.7 It is a minority of senators representing an even smaller minority of Americans who are using the filibuster to halt all progress and to allow our freedom to vote to be stripped away. But we will achieve our dreams with our votes and our power.
The anthem of the civil rights movement—"We Shall Overcome"—resonates today just as it did half a century ago. We shall overcome the assault against our most basic and important right as Americans. Please add your name to call on Democrats to protect our right to vote, and pass this petition along to everyone you know.
–Martin Luther King III
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