Bloody Sunday And Voting Rights

Family And Friends: Fifty-eight (58) years ago today, the United States of America was engaged on one of the greatest social upheavals of its time. Human dignity by means of the right to vote was on the world stage. We were entangled in a web that questioned the sacred fundamental principle. The bloodshed of the late Honorable Congressman (GA-05) John R. Lewis and the late Rev. Hosea Williams on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama was a testament of the sacrifices made for this nation to fulfill the promise of freedom. In Congressman Lewis' Across that Bridge: Life Lessons and a Vision for Change he expressed, "We did not just wake up one day and decide to march on Washington or from Selma to Montgomery. We studied, we strategized, we organized, trained, and prepared to take action. Most of what we accomplished grew out of years, decades, and even centuries of groundwork that was laid before most of us were even born, and those at the center of the struggle studied the history and used its wisdom to develop the strategic actions of the movement." The same applies today. We must have long-term strategic plans to re-transform this nation. We must clearly articulate truth that resonates with all the people. Lewis went on to state, "The idea of hundreds of black citizens taking to the streets and marching en masse through downtown Nashville or in Birmingham, Selma, or Washington, D.C., was considered drastic because it challenged the muteness of our time and the society that had shut its mouth and turned its head in denial of the truth....And through the protests in the Deep South, where government-sponsored brutality enforced unjust laws, people watching on television could perceive the unseemly consequences of believing a set of distorted facts." The Voting Rights Act of 1965 and hundreds (100s) of years of oppression, suppression, and repression caused this nation to throw off its shackles of hypocrisy and latch on to a semblance of full democracy. And, the Voting Rights Act is still under attack and conservative judges seek to take more blows and weaken the law. Therefore, the civil rights fight is ongoing and Bloody Sunday shifted from a bridge to a wall built by state legislatures and upheld by conservative courts. Bloody Sunday led to the passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act (VRA) which enfranchised African Americans, minorities wholly, and naturalized citizens from Asian, Central and South American, and African nations. A thrust of the law became evident and had great stock, influence, and potency of historic numbers of African Americans sworn into the United States Congress in 1993, 1995, and 2023; as well in 2008 and 2012, where both elections brought to pass the first African American President Barack Obama. A new voting rights fight is underway. Racial and partisan gerrymandering has distorted the vision of the American dream. Southern Republican elected officials believe they are protected from political repercussions of crafting rigged and manipulated maps. There is an inherent fear among this group that increased African American representation would result in progressive legislation and deter conservative laws, rules, and regulations, and that a real investments will be voiced in education, enfranchisement, justice, and social matters. Therefore, we must rise up and be prepared to give our time, talent, and resources to the revolution of equality. We deserve to walk freely in the light of hope and truth as one people. We can transform this nation through voter registration, civic education, legislation, and activation in the political process. In solidarity, Dr. Quintessa Hathaway Former Democratic Nominee 118th Congress (2023-2025) United States House Of Representatives Arkansas' Second District (AR-02)

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