Voting Rights Act of 1965

President Issues Executive Orders on Voting on Anniversary of Bloody Sunday

Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National CorrespondentApril 8, 2021

“The right to vote is the foundation of American democracy. Free and fair elections that reflect the will of the American people must be protected and defended,” President Biden remarked during the Martin & Coretta Scott King Unity Breakfast. “But many Americans, especially people of color, confront significant obstacles to exercising that fundamental right. These obstacles include difficulties with voter registration, lack of election information, and barriers to access at polling places.”

Dr. Maulana Karenga

Reaffirming Our Africanness and Radical Tradition, 1960s: Liberation’s Coming From a Black Thing (Part II)

Dr. Maulana KarengaMarch 4, 2021

Part II. It was Min. Malcolm X who taught us to cultivate a world-encompassing consciousness, not only as pan-Africanists committed to the liberation of Africans everywhere, but also as part of the worldwide revolution and liberation struggle going on and redrawing the map of history.

Basketball Sports

Sparks Star Chelsea Gray Holds a Virtual Conversation on Voting

Amanda Scurlock, Sports WriterOctober 29, 2020

Los Angeles Sparks guard and three-time All-Star Chelsea Gray teamed up with the organization Equality California to host “A Vote for Social Justice Reform,” a discussion on voting.

Op-Ed

Our Battle to Protect Democracy’s Greatest Tool: It’s on us to honor the legacy of Representative John Lewis

Congresswoman Cheri Bustos (IL-17), Chairwoman, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee & Congresswoman Terri Sewell (AL-07)August 20, 2020

Even in the darkest of times, we can hear our friend and mentor John Lewis: “Ours is not the struggle of one day, one week, or one year. Ours is not the struggle of one judicial appointment or presidential term. Ours is the struggle of a lifetime, or maybe even many lifetimes, and each one of us in every generation must do our part.”

ASK DR. JEANETTE, SUCCESS ON THE WAY

Success On The Way, Ask Dr. Jeanette: “The Education Football” Brown vs Board of Education-Part 2

Dr. Jeanette ParkerJuly 16, 2020

The new Chief Justice, displaying considerable political skill and determination, the new chief justice succeeded in engineering a unanimous verdict against school segregation the following year.

Opinion

Redefining Suffrage, Unerasing Black Women

Gwen McKinneyJanuary 23, 2020

The 19th Amendment was adopted Aug. 18, 1920, after the required number of states ratified the constitutional measure. Though many Black women led suffrage campaigns, the 19th Amendment put white women on an empowerment tract to electoral engagement. Interestingly, the suffrage movement, festooned in the symbolic color white, is often portrayed through a narrow window uncomplicated by the strictures of race and power that framed the Amendment then and now.

National News Political

House Passes Voting Rights Measure to Restore Portions of Law Gutted in 2015

Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior CorrespondentDecember 12, 2019

The bill would require all states to get federal approval for election changes known to disproportionately affect voters of color.

History National News (Business)

The Storied History of the NAACP

Stacy M. Brown, NNPA NewswireJuly 25, 2019

The NAACP plans to highlight 110 years of civil rights history, and the current fight for voting rights, criminal justice reform, economic opportunity and education quality during its 110th national convention now happening in Detroit.

Op-Ed Opinion

Reparation: Racism vs Reality

Jerome Horton | Special to California Black Media PartnersJune 27, 2019

Mitch McConnell, Senate Majority Leader said he does not support reparation for decentness of slaves, concluding “None of us currently living are responsible” for slavery. In a sense, Senator McConnell is right. Reparation is not the responsibility of White Americans or any individuals living today. It is the responsibility of the government. For it was the U.S. government which enacted the legal institution of human chattel enslavement, primarily of Africans and African Americans, in the 18th and 19th centuries.

News Political

2020 Candidate Kamala Harris Targets State Abortion Bans

Juana Summer, The Associated PressMay 30, 2019

The move comes as the issue of abortion moves to the forefront of the presidential campaign. Harris is among the Democratic presidential candidates who have been sharply critical of a new spate of abortion laws that have cleared state legislatures and sharply curb abortion access. Supporters of such measures have openly predicted that the laws could spark court fights that will eventually lead the Supreme Court to revisit the landmark Roe vs. Wade decision.

Opinion

Voter Suppression a Lasting Legacy of the Transatlantic Slave Trade

Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire CorrespondentMarch 21, 2019

“Presidential elections and the voter experience have long been fraught for black people. From racist poll taxes to made-up literacy tests to the egregious rollback of voting rights over the past 50 years, American democracy has, at times, felt like a weird and failed social experiment.” —Patrisse Cullors

Opinion WENDY'S WINDOW

Wendy’s Window: ‘Civil Rights: Progression or Regression?’

Wendy GladneyFebruary 21, 2019

I was born of a White mother and a Black father in 1961 in Southern California during a time when America was experiencing segregation across the nation. Although many of us in California did not feel the same effects as many of our relatives in the South, segregation was still alive and well throughout the country. The Civil Rights Movement was in its beginning stages and the 50’s and 60’s were pivotal in changing the face and climate of America. The Civil Rights Movement was organized by African Americans with the goal to help end racial discrimination and provide equal rights to all under the law.

Larry Aubry Opinion

A. Philip Randolph: Cultural Grounding Key to His Success

Larry AubryFebruary 21, 2019

Randolph’s grounding in his own culture enabled him to successfully collaborate with others, including Whites, other labor unions, government officials and politicians. Racial and cultural grounding are prerequisites for effectively working with others and must become part of conversations and strategies to reverse Blacks’ current self-denigrating mindsets and ineffective leadership. That said, the following are highlights in A. Philip Randolph’s quest to improve the quality of life for Blacks and other oppressed people.

Op-Ed Opinion

Why Should African Americans Vote?: Special to California Black Media Partners

Aubry Stone, President/CEO California Black Chamber of Commerce, “California the 5th largest economy in the world”November 1, 2018

African Americans cannot afford not to vote. We must vote for people who have our best interest in mind, heart and soul. We must vote for issues that advance the well-being of our families and communities. We can’t expect to win with every vote, but if we don’t vote, we can certainly expect to lose.

Marc Morial Opinion

The Criminalization of Poverty: Cash Bail for Non-Violent Misdemeanors Perpetuates Unequal Treatment Under the Law

Marc H. Morial, President and CEO, National Urban LeagueOctober 4, 2018

Praise the Lord, indeed. Since the Voting Rights Act of 1965, Black voting rates – particularly in presidential years – rose steadily. In 2008, the Black voting rate matched the White rate for the first time and in 2012 exceeded it. Not coincidentally, in 2013 the Supreme Court gutted the Voting Rights Act and the Black voter turnout in 2016 dipped to a low not seen since 2004.